NBA Notes: Pacers, Andrew Nembhard, Bulls, Zach Collins, Pistons

Pacers

The Pacers’ slide continued Friday night with a 140-122 loss to Boston, their seventh straight defeat, and frustration is starting to show publicly.

Guard Andrew Nembhard said the issue isn’t talent or shot-making, but a lack of sustained effort over a full 48 minutes.

“Guys are fighting at times, but it’s not consistent,” Nembhard said, via Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “It’s not sustained throughout the whole game. Fighting sometimes doesn’t mean making shots or looking at the stat sheet, but doing those off-stat things. Sometimes we just have to put more onus on that and value it more.”

Boston led by as many as 28 points, shot 57 percent from the field and knocked down 20 three-pointers, underscoring Indiana’s defensive struggles.

Forward Jarace Walker echoed that message, saying the Pacers may need to get uncomfortable to find a way out.

“It’s just everybody raising their intensity and their effort,” Walker said. “We’re just gonna have to get uncomfortable and do things that we’re not used to doing to end up on the winning side.”

Bulls

Chicago’s bench made the difference again Friday, pouring in 59 points in a 109-102 win over Philadelphia that pushed the Bulls’ winning streak to five games.

“Even if we lost a couple [of games], we were still trending in the right direction,” big man Zach Collins said, via Kyle Williams of the Chicago Sun-Times. “We’re crashing the glass a little bit more, just playing a little bit harder. We’re winning games and the vibes are high.”

One notable absence from the rotation was Patrick Williams, who didn’t leave the bench despite being active. Williams entered the game listed as questionable with an illness and has averaged just 7.8 minutes over his previous four appearances, per Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic.

Williams is in the second year of a five-year, $90 million extension.

Pistons

The Pistons are widely expected to convert Daniss Jenkins from a two-way deal to a standard contract at some point in the coming weeks, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.

Fischer reports there is a “growing expectation” that the move will happen closer to the February five trade deadline. Jenkins has already been active for all 31 of Detroit’s games this season, putting him well on pace to hit the 50-game limit for two-way players.

The 24-year-old guard earned Eastern Conference Player of the Week consideration during a five-game stretch in mid-November when injuries thinned the roster. While his role has since been scaled back, Jenkins remains in the rotation, appearing in 15 of the Pistons’ past 16 games.

Overall, he’s averaging 7.5 points, 3.0 assists and 1.8 rebounds while shooting .427 from the field, .356 from three and .771 from the line in 25 appearances, including six starts.

To make room, Detroit would need to adjust its standard roster, which is currently full at 15 players. Isaac Jones appears most vulnerable, as his minimum contract is non-guaranteed until January 7 and he has logged just one appearance since being claimed off waivers in November.