INDIANAPOLIS — Emotion doesn’t have an expiration date.
The Bulls were trying to balance basketball with the grief still being felt in the wake of Kobe Bryant’s death, and it wasn’t an easy task in a disappointing 115-106 overtime loss to the Pacers on Wednesday.
“It sucks,’’ Bulls guard Zach LaVine said. “We’re fighting for a playoff spot.
‘‘This is a game I think we had won, but we let it slip through our hands again.’’
Before the game, Lauri Markkanen and LaVine announced they would continue wearing their current numbers — 24 and 8, respectively — to honor Bryant, who wore both for the Lakers.
“I didn’t feel any pressure,’’ Markkanen said. “Obviously, it’s the player’s decision. Like I said, you can’t go wrong with either one. I feel like you can honor him either way, retiring it or you can kind of still keep his number alive. That’s just the route I want to go.
‘‘A player can make their own decision, and hopefully everybody can respect everybody’s position.’’
LaVine gave a similar response.
“Kobe is one of the main reasons I wear No. 8,’’ LaVine said. “I’ll continue to wear No. 8 for that, too.’’
LaVine and the Bulls were up by seven with 2:32 left in the fourth quarter, but Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon made a layup to cut it to five.
Brogdon cut the deficit to three 23 seconds later after an awful LaVine pass and turnover.
Both teams got stuck in the mud until there were 10.3 seconds left in regulation, and the man of the night finally showed up.
Victor Oladipo, out since last season with a ruptured tendon in his quadriceps and on a minutes restriction, made the Bulls pay, hitting a 28-footer right in Chandler Hutchison’s face to tie the game.
No worries. Coach Jim Boylen still had LaVine and nine seconds to pull it out. On a drive, however, LaVine looked like he was fouled but didn’t get the call, sending the game into overtime.
“They know what happened [on the no-call],’’ said LaVine, who had 20 points but shot only 7-for-23 from the field. “It’s basketball. It shouldn’t have gotten to that point, but it was a no-call. We went to overtime; we lost.
“It was a foul; they just missed it. That stuff happens throughout the game. It just sucks that it was at the end of the game. I don’t think it should have gotten to that last-second shot anyway.’’
The Pacers were glad it did. They took control in overtime, outscoring the Bulls 15-6 and dropping them to 1-19 on the season against teams at .500 or better.
That’s why Boylen was so upset. He tabbed this game as “meaningful’’ and wanted to see how his players would respond.
“[Beating winning teams is] a learned process,’’ Boylen said, “just like winning games, winning close games, learning how to win in the fourth quarter.
‘‘Learning how to prepare yourself to play against a team that maybe you’re supposed to beat and learning to prepare yourself against a team that maybe you’re not supposed to beat, it’s all part of this process. We talk about it, and it’s out there.’’
