CHICAGO – Over the course of a four-game losing streak, the Indiana Pacers had seen a disturbing trend emerge.

Not only did the Pacers struggle defensively, but they failed to close out games with collapses in the third and fourth quarters, which led to predictable results.

The Pacers flipped their recent script on Friday night when they built an early lead and never relinquished it as Victor Oladipo scored 25 points and Bojan Bogdanovic added 22 in a 105-87 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Indiana never trailed and limited the Bulls to 25.9 percent shooting (7 of 27) from 3-point range. The Pacers had struggled defensively during the four-game skid, allowing an average of 115 points.

That wasn't the case against the Bulls.

"No matter what, we got stops," Oladipo said. "Plain and simple."

Thaddeus Young chipped in 13 points for Indiana (6-7), which won for the first time since Nov. 1. Myles Turner also reached double figures for the Pacers and finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Cory Joseph rounded out the Indiana scoring attack with 10 points.

But as much offense as the Pacers produced, their effort on the opposite end of the floor kept Chicago from ever getting close. Indiana coach Nate McMillan said that contesting shots was a focal point for the Pacers, who limited the Bulls to 38 points in the post and didn't make anything easy for the Bulls throughout the night.

Indiana held Chicago to just 16 first-quarter points and never let up off the gas.

"(We) really committed to the defensive end of the floor and putting two halves together," McMillan said. "The third and fourth quarter has been a nightmare for us the last few game both offensively and defensively. Tonight, we definitely wanted to make that effort to be consistent."

Offensively, the Pacers pushed the pace, which the Bulls had difficulty defending. That, combined with the Bulls slow start, contributed to a performance by the Bulls that coach Fred Hoiberg said lacked fight.

"We talked (in training camp) about our rules in defensive transition and that completely went out the window tonight," Hoiberg said. "They scored 20 (points) in transition and it seemed like 50. We didn't get back, we hung our heads."

He added: "You could see in our guys' faces that it was going to be a long night."

Bobby Portis, playing his second game since returning from an eight-game suspension, scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds off the bench to lead Chicago (2-8), which lost its third straight.

Kris Dunn scored 16 points for Chicago, which also got 14 points from Justin Holiday and 12 points from rookie Lauri Markkanen, who reached double figures for the 10th straight game.

Still, it was far from being enough against the Pacers, who entered Friday's game referring to the game as must-win.

"It's very frustrating," Portis said. "But we're a young team, we're all still learning and we're trying to get better each and every day."

The Pacers led by as many as 24 points in the fourth quarter and maintained a double-digit lead as Indiana shot 51.2 percent from the field and connected on 12 of 29 from 3-point range.

Indiana led 45-35 at halftime and used a strong burst to begin the third quarter. And with an impressive 48-minute showing, all of the issues that slowed Indiana over the past four games were resolved in a victory that Oladipo characterized as "huge".

"It was huge just to get our mojo back a little bit and play as go out there and play as hard as we can," Oladipo said. "It was a great win for us, a great road win for us and there's still things we need to get better at. We still need to learn each other. We just need to maintain that throughout the season."

NOTES: Pacers F/C Domantas Sabonis returned after missing Indiana's last two games with a right calf contusion. ... F Glenn Robinson III (ankle sprain) and F Alex Poythress were inactive for Indiana. ... Bulls F David Nwaba (right ankle sprain) remains out. ... Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf gave coach Fred Hoiberg a vote of confidence, saying despite the Bulls' slow start that Hoiberg's efforts to get his team to play the right way isn't "going unnoticed." "Right now, we're happy," Reinsdorf said. "The team is playing really hard. Fred's got them playing really hard." ... The NBA announced that Chicago will host the 2020 All-Star Game. The city last hosted the event in 1988 at Chicago Stadium. ... NBA commissioner Adam Silver attended Friday's game after making the All-Star announcement earlier in the day.