2011 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs
First Round – Game 2
Indiana Pacers at Chicago Bulls, United Center, Chicago, IL
Monday, April 18, 2011, 9:30 pm Eastern, TV: TNT
Opening Line: Bulls -11
Current Line: Bulls -12
Opening Total: 191
Current Total: 192
Money Line: Bulls -1400 / Pacers +975
The eighth-seeded Indiana Pacers (37-46) were confident enough to lead the top-seeded Chicago Bulls (63-20) for most of Game 1 of their first-round playoff series – until the final minute. The Pacers let one slip away from them in a 104-99 loss on Saturday and will try to bounce back in Game 2 on Monday by slowing down MVP candidate Derrick Rose, who scored a game-high 39 points for the Bulls (-12).
Chicago got a bit of a wake-up call right away and had to rally back from a 10-point deficit in the final 3:28, finally pulling ahead for good on a Kyle Korver 3-pointer with 48 seconds remaining. The Bulls outscored Indiana 33-20 in the fourth quarter after losing each previous quarter, using a remarkable 16-1 game-ending run to take a 1-0 series lead.
Indiana’s Danny Granger (24 points) had said before the series that Chicago goes as Rose goes, and he could not have been more right. Rose made sure his team did not lose the series opener, willing the Bulls to victory by doing just about everything but make his 3-point shots. He missed all nine of his attempts from beyond the arc but also finished with six rebounds, six assists and three blocks.
“We knew it was going to be a hard game,” Rose said. “From the beginning I guess we weren’t prepared for it. Next time I think we’ll be ready.”
Hard might be an understatement, as Rose might have been the only one to believe that considering the way the rest of his teammates played for most of the game. Luol Deng (7-of-13 for 18 points), Kyle Korver (4-of-7 for 13) and Kurt Thomas (3 of 4 for 6) were the only Chicago players to make more than half of their shots. Rose did most of his damage from the free-throw line, making 19 of 21 shots and earning four more trips than the entire Pacers team.
The Bulls were able to stay in the game thanks to a monster 49-34 advantage on the boards. Joakim Noah had a game-high 11 rebounds while Deng added 10. Roy Hibbert led Indiana with eight but was not much of a factor otherwise, scoring 11 points and picking up five fouls.
Chicago has won its last 10 games along with 22 of 24 but has failed to cover the spread in six of nine. The Pacers have managed to score 100 points in just one of the five meetings with the Bulls, which turned out to be their only victory (115-108 in overtime at home on March 18). The OVER has cashed in the past three games between the teams after going UNDER in the first two.
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