While several of the Bulls (16-4) quietly and publicly fumed about the Indiana Pacers (12-5) celebration in the aftermath of their 95-90 victory over the unbeaten club at home, it was clear that this was more than just a win for their up and coming Central Division rival.
“We haven’t won here, I think the last eleven times, not to mention the playoffs so we knew that this was going to be a big game, not to mention we’re division rivals,” said Danny Granger. “We’re division and conference rivals and we’re fighting for playoff seeding, so this was a big win for us.”
No one outside of the Pacers' locker room believed that Indiana had a shot at beating Chicago in last year’s first round series; even most of the fans that filled Bankers Life Fieldhouse for Game’s Three and Four were mostly pro-Bulls.
Every game was close, decided by decisive plays in the closing minutes. The Bulls experience of knowing how to close out an opponent was key in the series.
While being ousted hurt, the core of that Pacers team took solace in the fact that they were able to compete with a league best Bulls team.
That core believea that series fueled their confidence even more so that they could play with the elite teams and have used the Bulls as a measuring stick to where they feel they stand in not only the Central Division but the Eastern Conference.
“Right now, we expect to win,” said Granger. “When we lose, we’re highly disappointed. I think this is the first time in a long time in Indiana where teams don’t look at us as underdogs anymore. We’re such a talented team and when we play together, it’s tough to beat us.”
Added Pacers Coach Frank Vogel: “The difference between this year’s team and last year’s team is we have confidence that we’ll score in crunch time, we will score in the fourth quarter. We didn’t have that last year and it cost us the series here. We believe, going into the fourth quarter, that we can get stops and that we can execute well enough to get scores to win these close games.
After looking a bit overmatched in the first half and down by 10 points at halftime, the Pacers out-scrapped the Bulls, outscoring them 51-36 and holding them to 30 percent shooting from the field.
It was an unusual loss for Chicago, who’s used to fighting their way back to wins but that formula they’ve used so often has now become a staple for the Pacers.
“[We] know what wins in the playoffs and defense wins,” said Vogel. “Chicago does it at the highest level. Coach Thibodeau is probably the best in the business on the defensive end, both ends really because he does a good job with the offensive end as well. They have a great formula, share the ball offensively and defend at a very high level and that’s what we’re trying to achieve.”
While they exhibit some similarities to the Bulls, the Pacers fell short of taking the win in stride and that will only make this Central Division rivalry that much more entertaining the next few times the teams face off.
"I will never forget how they celebrated just from winning this game,” said Derrick Rose. “I can’t wait to play them again.”
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