First Thoughts: Bulls 110, Pacers 94
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Assistant Editor
First thoughts after the Chicago Bulls defeated the Indiana Pacers 110-94 on Saturday night at the United Center:
IN A NUTSHELL: Luol Deng scored a game-high 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, most of his buckets coming off the bounce with Indiana struggling to contain his size and quickness. Derrick Rose (20 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including 6-of-11 from beyond the arc) and Taj Gibson (15 points on 7-of-13 shooting) were ultra-efficient from the floor and big man Joakim Noah quietly produced a fine game with four points, seven rebounds and six assists over 32 minutes for the Bulls. Chicago shot 50.6 percent overall and 57.9 percent (11 of 19) from beyond the 3-point arc. Lance Stephenson and Paul George scored 12 points apiece for Indiana (each was a team-worst minus-20 in plus/minus). Roy Hibbert and David West combined for 27 points but shot 11 of 26. Indiana shot 40 percent as a team in their first loss of the season (9-1).
KEY SEQUENCE: In an unusual turn of events, the Pacers were staring at a double-digit deficit in the first quarter on Saturday. A 14-4 Bulls burst, with George sitting down with two fouls in the middle of it, turned a three-point deficit into a 31-18 hole. The Bulls ate up Indiana inside, scoring 16 of their 31 first-quarter points inside the paint (eight of the other 15 points came off free throws). The Pacers played from way behind from that point forward, never managing to claw closer than 23 in the third quarter after trailing 60-35 at halftime. Any hopes of a streak-saving comeback were dashed as the Bulls shot 6 of 14 from the field and 9 of 11 from the line in the third quarter, making three of the six 3-pointers they hoisted and keeping the monstrous lead to send Indiana to one of its worst losses ever against Chicago.
BEST OF THE REST: Chicago guard Kirk Hinrich received a technical foul with 36.8 seconds left in the third quarter for arguing an offensive foul called against him. … Rose returned after missing one game with a sore right hamstring. … Both teams were playing the second night of a back-to-back. … Chris Copeland made the first three 3s he attempted after entering the game in the second half. … With 21.9 seconds left, both Carlos Boozer and Copeland were ejected after a mild alteraction with the game obviously decided.
WHAT WE LEARNED: Sooner or later this team was going to have an off night shooting, but Indiana played atrocious basketball in this one. The Pacers were downright manhandled on the first game of a three-game road trip and fell two wins shy of matching the longest winning streak in franchise history. Indiana did not offer enough physical resistence when the Bulls went inside (46 points in the paint) and Chicago got hot from the perimeter to turn it into a blowout. This proud Pacers group will either want to forget this one quickly or perhaps dissect every minute of tape to assess the breakdowns. Indiana will take the next three days off before heading out for games at New York (Wednesday) and Boston (Friday). Forward Danny Granger, sidelined since knee woes ended his 2012-13 season in March, is expected to make it back to practice sometime within the next week to 10 days. The Pacers — battling Miami and Chicago for the No. 1 seed in the East — will need to regroup and get this thing back moving in the right direction. Whichever team wins that race will likely be the one that best avoids losing streaks.
