Undermanned Pacers beat a Bulls team full of questions, without answers

Indiana was missing its three best players, and the Bulls were at full strength for the first time this season. Easy, right? Not with this roster as Bulls drop to 2-5.

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INDIANAPOLIS — The questions are coming in a hurry for guard Zach LaVine, but the answers aren’t as easy to come by.

When asked how this spiraling Bulls team can be fixed, he didn’t know where to begin Sunday.

“Why does it look like this? I don’t know, man,’’ LaVine said after the Bulls’ 108-95 loss to an undermanned Pacers squad. “If I knew the answer to that, I don’t think we’d be playing this way. It’s just as frustrating on the inside as it is on the outside. Obviously, we want to win; we’re the ones playing. It hurts us a lot to be playing like this and losing games we’re supposed to win. All you can do is go on to the next game, work on what you didn’t do well and correct it.’’

It’s not the first time since the regular season started two weeks ago that the Bulls have employed the back-to-the-drawing-board reply.

But this loss to the Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse was different.

Indiana was missing its three best players — Victor Oladipo, Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis — and still outhustled and outscored a lifeless 2-5 Bulls team.

That wasn’t sitting well in the locker room afterward. There was no pride, no urgency.

“[Expletive], I gotta learn it, too,’’ LaVine said. “It’s tough. Like I said to you guys before, we’ve gotta win games that we’re supposed to win. They have three of their starters out. They came in and played harder than us and kicked our butt. It’s simple. We’re just not there yet. We have really good spurts and then we get lost, and I don’t know what the hell goes on. We’ve got to clean it up. It’s simple, though. We’ve gotta outplay our opponent.’’

LaVine got his 21 points, but they came on 8-for-20 shooting, and he was a minus-10. Second-year big man Wendell Carter Jr. had 20 points and 10 rebounds, doing his best to pull his weight. And veteran Thaddeus Young had 12 points off the bench.

It all seemed like empty calories, however, especially with how lifeless the Bulls looked. The other major concern is that they were outrebounded again, 49-43. That’s not a good look for a team that is supposed to be embracing physicality and toughness.

No wonder Young said he talked to the team after the game.

“We have to take advantage of our opportunities better than we are,’’ Young said. “I told the team in our postgame meeting that this is what we call a trap game. They had three of their starters out. We didn’t take advantage of that. We gotta man up and make sure we take care of business.’’

For the most part, they didn’t take care of business during the first seven ‘‘easy’’ games, and now the schedule starts to get tougher.

Say hello to the Lakers on Tuesday, then the Bulls head to Atlanta on Wednesday.

“It’s very concerning,’’ Young said. “Simply from the beginning of the season, you’re supposed to take advantage of these opportunities. Teams are limping in. We’ve played several teams that haven’t had their star guys. We have to understand that when you step into a game, we’re all NBA players. Guys are going to step up on any given night.

‘‘We have to take a look at ourselves in the mirror and get in the gym [Monday] and get some work in. We have to work no matter what.’’

The hope is that with more work, an identity will start to form.

“I’ll be upset [Sunday night], then tomorrow’s a new day,’’ LaVine said. “We’ve got the Lakers coming in, so we gotta be ready. If we’re not ready, we’re going to get blown out.’’

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