Chicago Bulls vs Indiana Pacers: NBA Playoffs Game 3 Preview (Part 1)
The red-hot Chicago Bulls ended the regular season with the league’s best record at 62-20. The Indiana Pacers, on the other hand, finished the season at 37-45 to be seeded eighth in the Eastern Conference.
According to rules of the National Basket Association (NBA), the top-seeded team of the conference plays the eighth-seeded side in the playoffs. Therefore, the Bulls were paired with the Pacers in the best-of-seven quarter-final series. Chicago got home-court
advantage in their first-round series after they wrapped the season with the best record in the NBA.
The Bulls-Pacers best-of-seven series officially kicked off on Wednesday, 13th April. The favourite for the most valuable player (MVP) award, Derrick Rose, has led Chicago to a 2-0 lead in their opening-round playoff series heading into Thursday’s game at
Conseco Fieldhouse.
Although the Bulls have a comfortable lead, the Pacers have tackled them extremely well in the first two games of the series.
In Game one, Indiana gave Chicago a very tough time on the court, leading after the first three quarters behind a combined team effort. Forward Tyler Hansbrough played one of his best games of the season and led the Pacers with 22 points, hitting 15 and
17-foot jump shots.
Danny Granger later joined Hansbrough and played out of his mind in the second half. Carlos Boozer had a tough time in guarding Granger. In addition to that, Indiana shot 10-of-20 on three-pointers.
Everything changed in the fourth quarter when the Bulls outscored the Pacers 33-20, and the late surge allowed Chicago to seal a 104-99 victory. Chicago’s 22-year-old point guard, Derrick Rose, played a vital role in the victory as he scored a game-high
39 points, grabbed six assists and six rebounds.
Pacers’ guard Darren Collison appreciated the sizzling performance of Rose after the game. He said, "We know (Rose) will take the majority of their shots. He is their primary scorer, and we have to lock in on him. We have to make it as hard on him as possible.
The main thing is to attack him, and for the most part, we did that today"
Game two was more or less same, as the Bulls continued to play sloppy basketball, missing some open jump shots during the first three quarters. Rose once again proved to be the difference on the night as he managed 13 free throws on his way to scoring 36
points. He scored 14 of his points in the final stanza as Chicago outplayed the Pacers 29-23 to seal a 96-90 victory.
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