The hot hand for the Chicago Bulls is sending a message to his critics. Zach LaVine wants people to know that he hears the criticism that’s been leveled against him over the years, but it doesn’t affect him.

Donovan wasn’t crying. He certainly could have been after the Bulls sad effort — trailing by double digits the last three quarters and by as much as 34 points — in a 129-113 loss.

The Bulls star has a legitimate All-Star case. He's averaging 24 points per game, has scored 30-plus points in six straight games and he's shooting 45 percent from 3-point range, the fifth-best mark in the NBA — but Chicago still can't find anyone to take on his contract.

The letdown came on quickly for the Chicago Bulls after two emotional wins at home this week. They dropped a 129-113 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

The Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers are extremely similar this season. They both can’t find consistent play as a team. The Pacers are playing slightly better, but there is not much difference overall.

People are supposed to talk about you, have opinions about you,” LaVine said. “If you're not at that level, they wouldn't talk about you at all.’’

The same team that lost to the lowly Wizards can come back home and beat the Knicks and Spurs. And then there are games like the one Wednesday at Indiana.

The former Bulls All-Star has yet to score below 30 this year as part of an electric scoring run, with his latest effort coming in the return of his former All-Star teammate DeMar

It’s Tuesday, January 14. We have seven games on the NBA slate, with a doubleheader on TNT/truTV/Max. At 7 p.m. ET, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers play the second end of a home-and-home, while the Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks are scheduled to tip off at 9:30 p.m. ET. Here’s who to target in fantasy:

The Brooklyn Nets have been beyond pathetic on offense. They traded away point guard Dennis Schroder in the middle of December and now leading-scorer Cam Thomas, second-leading scorer Cam Johnson, and newly-acquired guard D'Angelo Russell are all sidelined by injuries.

Pascal Siakam scored 26 points, Thomas Bryant added a season-high 22 and two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton had 16 points and 13 assists in the Indiana Pacers’ 129-113 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.

The Indiana Pacers (19-18) welcome the Chicago Bulls (17-19) to Gainbridge Fieldhouse Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Let's analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's NBA odds around the Bulls vs. Pac