The Indiana Pacers travel to Chicago for contest with Bulls

After opening the season at home, the Indiana Pacers will be on the road Saturday Night.

The Indiana Pacers opened their season with a win at home over the New York Knicks behind strong performances from several leaders. Myles Turner (eight blocks) and Domantas Sabonis (32 points) set career-highs in their first action of the season. After a strong start, Indiana travels to Chicago for a matchup with Central Division rivals Chicago.

Chicago’s season opener was not as kind as they got blown out at home by the revamped Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta scored 81 points in the first half and opened a massive32-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. Trae Young scored 37 points and dished out seven assists en route to a victory.

The Bulls are still in a bit of a rebuild as they develop young talent, similar to the Knicks team that we saw in Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Zach LaVine is the undisputed star of the Bulls but has little veteran help around him. Chicago shot just 41.4 percent from the field and 22.9 percent from behind the arc in their opener.

The matchups revolve around Lavine and Lauri Markkanen. LaVine and Victor Oladipo have had some fun moments in the past and could make this game much more exciting than it appears on paper. Markkanen, an on-and-off big man, will be fun to watch next to Sabonis, the undisputed leader of the Pacers.

This is a game that the Pacers should win once again but they cannot afford to get caught looking ahead to the upcoming back-to-back with the Celtics. The Pacers have won eight in a row over the Bulls but six of those wins have come by single digits and two have come via overtime.

Indiana needs to win these early games against lower-level teams in the conference if they want to have a chance at home-court advantage in the playoffs. The East will be a gauntlet this season and Indiana really can’t afford to lose these types of games.