Bulls 87, Pacers 84: Luol Deng scored 20 points and Carlos Boozer added 18 points and 10 rebounds as host Chicago defeated Indiana to avoid a four-game season sweep.

Nazr Mohammed and Taj Gibson added 11 points apiece as the Bulls won for only the third time in nine games. Chicago prevailed when Pacers All-Star Paul George missed two 3-pointers in the final four seconds.

George had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Roy Hibbert added 18 and 12 for Indiana. The Pacers dropped to third in the Eastern Conference playoff race, percentage points behind the New York Knicks.

Chicago had a one-point lead entering the final quarter and led by nine after Daequan Cook’s jumper with 4:41 remaining. A four-point play by George Hill with 40 seconds left pulled the Pacers within three points but George came up empty from the left corner with four seconds remaining, scurried to nearly midcourt to corral the rebound and missed a 25-footer at the buzzer.

The Pacers had a 44-39 halftime lead and never trailed in the third quarter until Cook hit a last-second basket to give the Bulls a 68-67 edge entering the final stanza.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Bulls C Joakim Noah sat out with plantar fasciitis in his right foot and might also miss Sunday’s game against Minnesota. … Pacers F David West (back) sat out his fourth straight game and F Danny Granger (knee) missed his 10th in a row. … Chicago is in sixth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race, a half-game behind the Atlanta Hawks and 1 1/2 games ahead of the seventh-place Boston Celtics.