Chicago Bulls – Indiana Pacers · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 31 December 2021

CHI108–106IND

Is it worth watching?

The ESPN data for this game contradicts the official result, so it cannot be rated

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ IND winsCHI wins ↓

The last point of this curve falls on IND's side, but CHI won 108-106. It is an ESPN error at the close of the game: the curve is shown as it is and no conclusion is drawn from it.

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when IND leads and falls when CHI does.

This is how the game was decided.

DeMar DeRozan decided it, the Chicago Bulls player with the most points (28, with 3 rebounds and 6 assists; +18 with him on the floor). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Indiana Pacers 106-108 Chicago Bulls (December 31, 2021) was hit by DeMar DeRozan: a three-pointer with 0.0 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Chicago Bulls up 108-106. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Indiana Pacers 106-108 Chicago Bulls (December 31, 2021) was a 9-0 run by the Indiana Pacers in the fourth quarter (from 6:15 to 4:17), from 90-94 to 99-94. The Chicago Bulls' best was a 7-0 run between the first quarter and the second quarter, from 23-23 to 30-23.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: DeMar DeRozan makes 28-foot three pointer.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

DeMar DeRozan decided this game: his points put his team ahead at the buzzer of the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 11 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games DeRozan decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

31 December 2021 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401360349:713; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · CHI

LaVine · DeRozan · Vucevic · White · Dosunmu

Closing lineup · IND

Sabonis · LeVert · Holiday · Craig · Brissett

Q1Q2Q3Q4

CHI

Zach LaVine

36′ · -8

DeMar DeRozan

35′ · +18

Nikola Vucevic

34′ · -1

Coby White

33′ · +1

Javonte Green

28′ · +3

Ayo Dosunmu

22′ · -8

Matt Thomas

20′ · +8

Derrick Jones Jr.

14′ · -3

Tyler Cook

14′ · +3

Troy Brown Jr.

4′ · -3

IND

Domantas Sabonis

40′ · +1

Caris LeVert

37′ · +1

Justin Holiday

35′ · -6

Duane Washington Jr.

30′ · 0

Myles Turner

18′ · -9

Torrey Craig

32′ · -1

Oshae Brissett

31′ · +4

Keifer Sykes

11′ · -3

Nate Hinton

2′ · +2

Goga Bitadze

5′ · +1

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. CHI and IND.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Chicago Bulls

White, Green, DeRozan, Vucevic, and LaVine played 19.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 7 points.
Jones, Cook, Thomas, Dosunmu, and DeRozan played 6.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Thomas, Green, Dosunmu, Vucevic, and LaVine played 5.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.

Indiana Pacers

Turner, Sabonis, LeVert, Washington, and Holiday played 9.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Sabonis, LeVert, Craig, Brissett, and Holiday played 9.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Sabonis, LeVert, Craig, Brissett, and Washington played 9.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.

▸See every lineup of the game

Chicago Bulls

Jones, Cook, White, Thomas, and DeRozan played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
White, Green, Dosunmu, Vucevic, and LaVine played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Jones, Thomas, Dosunmu, Vucevic, and LaVine played 2.0 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Brown, Cook, White, Thomas, and DeRozan played 1.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Jones, Cook, White, DeRozan, and LaVine played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Jones, White, Dosunmu, Vucevic, and LaVine played 1.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 5 points.
White, Thomas, DeRozan, Vucevic, and LaVine played 1.2 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

Indiana Pacers

Turner, Sykes, Craig, Brissett, and Holiday played 4.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Sabonis, LeVert, Bitadze, Washington, and Holiday played 3.1 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Sykes, Sabonis, Craig, Brissett, and Holiday played 2.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 5 points.
Sykes, Sabonis, Craig, Brissett, and Washington played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Sabonis, LeVert, Brissett, Washington, and Holiday played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Turner, Sykes, Brissett, Washington, and Holiday played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Turner, Sykes, Craig, Washington, and Holiday played 1.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Turner, LeVert, Craig, Brissett, and Holiday played 1.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Domantas Sabonis covered 4.94 km, more than anyone in the game.

Caris LeVert touched the ball 92 times, a game high.
Caris LeVert made 63 passes, a game high.
Nikola Vučević defended 11 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 7.
Domantas Sabonis had 28 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Chicago Bulls

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Zach LaVine	4.18	6.6	63	38
Coby White	4.10	7.0	50	36
DeMar DeRozan	4.01	6.4	61	27
Nikola Vučević	3.80	6.3	63	45
Javonte Green	3.67	7.2	33	27
Ayo Dosunmu	2.69	7.0	26	21
Matt Thomas	2.61	7.9	17	9
Derrick Jones Jr.	2.01	7.9	16	13
Tyler Cook	1.75	7.1	22	17
Troy Brown Jr.	0.55	7.4	3	2

Indiana Pacers

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Domantas Sabonis	4.94	7.0	84	60
Caris LeVert	4.54	6.9	92	63
Justin Holiday	4.28	6.9	50	35
Torrey Craig	4.17	7.4	59	45
Oshae Brissett	3.86	6.9	41

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2021-22 regular season, not this game.

Chicago Bulls

Nikola Vučević contested 9.8 shots per game over his 73 games.
He ranks 16 of 386 in the league.
Javonte Green deflected 2.1 passes per game over his 65 games.
He ranks 52 of 386 in the league.
Ayo Dosunmu recovered 0.8 loose balls per game over his 75 games.
He ranks 73 of 386 in the league.

Indiana Pacers

Myles Turner contested 10.7 shots per game over his 42 games.
He ranks 12 of 386 in the league.
Domantas Sabonis recovered 1.0 loose balls per game over his 62 games.
He ranks 17 of 386 in the league.
Caris LeVert recovered 0.9 loose balls per game over his 58 games.
He ranks 43 of 386 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Indiana Pacers have won 114 of their 227 games against the Chicago Bulls.

114-113record of the Indiana Pacers · NBA 1976-77 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

4-0in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1976-77 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

17.515

97.7% of capacity

Gainbridge Fieldhouse · Indianapolis

Scoring

214

combined points

7.2 below the season average (221.2)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

17 calls reviewed4 errors admitted by the NBA

Foul: Personal · 00:14.8

DeMar DeRozan → Torrey Craig

DeRozan (CHI) initiates body contact with Craig (IND) that affects his ability to control the loose ball. The ball then goes out of bounds off of Craig's leg, although possession is incorrectly awarded to the Pacers.

Turnover: Traveling · 00:41.0

Zach LaVine → Pacers

LaVine (CHI) leaves his feet and returns to the floor without having released the ball.

Foul: Shooting · 01:30.8

Javonte Green → Caris LeVert

Green (CHI) moves into LeVert's (IND) arm/body and initiates contact that affects his shot attempt at the rim.

Foul: Personal · 01:46.1

DeMar DeRozan → Caris LeVert

DeRozan (CHI) makes contact to LeVert's (IND) arm that causes him to lose control of the ball.