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Bulls' Derrick Rose a thorn in the side of plucky Pacers
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By Mike Dodd
April 20, 2010
CHICAGO — For the first two games of their first-round playoff series, the No. 8-seeded Indiana Pacers have been the equal of a Chicago Bulls team that posted the NBA's best regular-season record.
With one exception: Derrick Rose in the last five minutes.
The presumptive NBA most valuable player, Rose took over Monday's Game 2 at the United Center in much the same way he did the opener Saturday, scoring 11 points in the last 5:16 to pull out a come-from-behind 96-90 victory that gives Chicago a 2-0 series lead heading into Game 3 Thursday in Indianapolis.
"I feel like it's the sequel to the Derrick Rose show. It really just happened all over again," Pacers' forward Danny Granger said.
What has to change in the next two games on the Pacers' home court?
"I know it's getting redundant, but we've got to stop Derrick Rose, you know?" Granger said. "I get a feeling it's the same thing, just another day."
The Pacers have been effective slowing down Rose at times, just not at the end of games. Tuesday, they put 6-8 forward Paul George on him for most of the game and the rookie set an Indiana team record with 18 deflections.
They also tried to trap Rose deep in the backcourt, leading to three of his six second-half turnovers, but he thwarted the strategy with about a minute to go. When 6-9 Tyler Hansbrough came out to trap him, Rose shot a quick pass in the middle to Joakim Noah, who hit wide-open Kyle Korver in the corner for a three-pointer that gave Chicago a five-point lead with 1:04 left.
With his 36-point output, Rose is averaging 37.5 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the series. Most of the points are coming on drives to the basket or free-throws off drives, although he hit two three-pointers Monday.
"These games are definitely tough," he said. "It's taking punishment to keep going in there and just keep getting beat up."
A series that was expected to be a tuneup for the Bulls for subsequent match-ups against the likes of the Orlando Magic, Miami Heat or Boston Celtics has turned into a struggle. Chicago shot 38.6% Monday and was guilty of 22 turnovers, both statistics that usually lead to a loss.
"Not the way you want to get two (wins) but this is the playoffs. It's not going to be pretty," said forward Luol Deng, who is averaging 16 points in the series but made only three of 13 field-goal attempts Monday.
Added Rose, "We've got to come out with an edge. … We're just trying to sharpen up things, especially on the defensive end, so that we can control the game more instead of us having to play crazy at the end of the game."
The Pacers have led about 80% of the time in the series, and they haven't been behind at the end of any quarter except the last. They just don't have a closer of Rose's caliber.
Even in their one regular-season victory against Chicago on March 18 (the Bulls' lone loss in the Central Division), the Pacers were outscored 29-13 in the fourth quarter before winning in overtime.
"We haven't been able to finish games," Granger said.
The Pacers lost point guard Darren Collison to a sprained ankle in the second quarter. He expects to play Thursday in Game 3.
With or without him, they return to Conseco Fieldhouse believing they can play with the Bulls.
"We're standing toe-to-toe with this team," said interim coach Frank Vogel, who led the Pacers to a 20-18 finish after taking over Jan 30 for Jim O'Brien.
NBA news archive:
2011, 2010, 2009
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