The Indiana Pacers were right there.
The No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, the team nobody believed could hang with the first-seeded Chicago Bulls in this first-round NBA playoff series, did just that Saturday at United Center.
The Pacers just couldn’t finish the deal, falling 104-99 after allowing the Bulls to go on a 16-1 run in the final 3:38.
By Drew Allen
So ends the first playoff game for this young team. However, the heartbreaking ending is not all to come out of Game 1 for the Pacers. They did play well.
Despiteย surrendering 39 points fromย prospective NBA MVP Derrick Rose,ย Indianaย did a fine job taking away the Bulls’ other weapons and put forward Carlos Boozer in foul trouble early. Danny Granger and Tyler Hansbrough performed brilliantly in the second half and finished with 24 and 22 points, respectively. Darren Collison matched Rose point-for-point for much of the contest, notching 17 points from the top of the key. Roy Hibbert made plenty of noise posting up on Joakim Noah, scoring 11 points and pulling down eight rebounds.
Indeed, Indianaย appeared on its way to securing aย huge and shocking upset winย in Chicago toย open the series. Hansbrough’sย breakaway dunk andย free throw gave the team aย 10-point lead with less than fourย minutes to play.ย
But the final 3:38. That’s what the Pacers stillย appear to be missing.
If Indiana is to rebound emotionally from such a gut-wrenching loss, that final 3:38 can’t happen again. The Pacers have to find a way to close out the game, and they can attempt to do so in a number of ways when they take the floor tonight in Game 2.
- Attack the rim. Granger missed two shots down the stretch; one was a 3-point attempt, and the other was a pull-up shot from the free-throw line. Collison, who had penetrated with success all game long, settled and missed a jumper. This was a visible problem under former coach Jim O’Brien, and the team’s two leading scorers this season somehow relapsed in the biggest game in which either has played. Ifย Granger and Collison find themselves in a similar position tonight, theyย either need to drive to the basket or dish it inside to Tyler Hansbrough, who was having a monster fourth quarter. Granted, the Bulls recorded three blocks when Indiana players tried to score down low, but what’s easily forgotten is that Boozer had five fouls at the time. Need to capitalize on that.
- Hit free throws. Yes, the superstar card comes into play here with Rose in terms of getting to the line, as evidenced by the Bulls’ 32 free-throw attempts compared to the Pacers’ 17. However,ย Indiana connected on just 11ย of those attempts. All but two Pacers who attempted free throws missed at least one.ย Hibbert missed a crucial free throw in the final stretch. Collison missed a technical-foul shot. Again,ย Indiana is at a disadvantage in terms of opportunities here with Rose on theย other end of the court. But the team cannot missย on easy points.
- Offensive rebounds.ย Perhaps lost in theย Rose praise is how effectivelyย Chicago acquired second and third chances on the offensive end. The Bulls pulled down 21 offensive reboundsย to the Pacers’ 13.ย The discrepancyย keptย the Bulls in the contest while the Pacers were shooting well. This comes back to added responsibility to Hansbrough and McRoberts.ย Those guys need to play howย they’re used to playing — all out and no regard for their bodies — to comeย down with more such opportunities for Indiana.
We’ll seeย whetherย the Pacers’ย Game 1 effort was an anomaly tonightย at 9:30 p.m. I think Indiana plays with the same intensity, but the team must find a way toย reverse the finalย 3:38 from Saturday.
