(Image courtesy of Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
The game that I thought would happen in Indianapolis, happened much sooner than I would have liked. Indiana was out-coaching, out-executing, and worse of all, out-hustling Chicago for a good portion of 3 quarters. Indiana was getting the dribble penetration and the open looks they were hoping to create by running their 1-4 pick and rolls. Casual fans were asking who Darren Collison was, and thinking that Tyler Hansborough has been playing this way all season. For every run that Chicago tried to put together to get back into the game, Indiana answered with one of their own.
Although exciting, this was a microcosm of the game. DRose gets rubbed off on a pick, and has to use his athletic ability to get a defensive stop and a breathtaking play on the other end.
http://www.nba.com/video/channels/playoffs/2011/04/15/0041000101_ind_chi_play2.nba Rose was beaten, no help rotated over, and without his leaping ability, it would have been another 2 points for Indiana.
Going into the 4th quarter, Indiana led 79-71 largely through hitting open shots when they had them, and being fairly physical with Chicago, particularly when DRose tried to go into the lane. Although most of the fouls were largely clean, there was a lot of extra contact being thrown on any contact. The turning point came at 4:52 on a DRose drive. Hansborough performs a good hard foul with one arm, but appears to sneak in non-basketball contact with his other arm:
Deng, voices his displeasure, drawing a technical foul:
And when Collison misses the free throw, Deng ignites the Madhouse on Madison in a very rare display of emotion:
And as Granger so famously mentioned at the post-game interview, DRose (and the Bulls) wouldn't go away. A 16-1 run to close out the Pacers. As they have through most of the season. the Bulls find a way to win. The Pacers, play a game that they could have and should have won. Pacer players bravely say that this will be a series now, but honestly, if you can't win a game that you play at your highest level...I don't see it happening.
1 down...15 wins left to go!
Here's the game flow:
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20110416&game=INDCHI Here's the game recap, if you somehow didn't get to watch the game:
http://www.nba.com/video/channels/playoffs/2011/04/16/0041000101_ind_chi_recap_v2.nba