By Kyle Soppe
The Pacers want this to be a rivalry and the Bulls want it to be a big brother little brother relationship, where everyone knows the dominant team. Chicago got their way on Monday night, handling Indiana by a final count of 92-72.
The Bulls won the third quarter by 20 (33-13) and played even for the other three.
Luol Deng had an impressive 20 point, 4 assist, 6 rebound day, but even those numbers are modest when calculating his impact on the game. The Bulls were 33 points better than the Pacers with Deng on the court, far and away the best ratio of the night. Chicago improved to 11-2 in games in which Deng scores at least 20 this season. The Bulls forward is settling for jump shots a little more of late, as he has made more threes (9) than twos (8) this month.
The Bulls are among the best defensive teams in the league, and that is supported by their 10-4 mark when scoring 92 points or fewer. In comparison, the Pacers have dropped 12 of 15 games when being held to 92 or less.
Derrick Rose connected on more triples (3) than deuces (2) for the first time this season. While he scored in different ways last night, he continues to distribute the ball at a very efficient level. Over his last 11 games, he is averaging 3.7 assists per turnover.
Joakim Noah grabbed more rebounds (17) than shots attempted (6), tying a season high with an +11 rebound difference. Noah brings down more boards than field goals he attempts 89.7% of games.
John Lucas III made both of his free throws, and hasn’t missed from the stripe since the 16th of January. He also scored in double figures for the fifth time this season, and the Bulls have won four of them.
Sharp shooting Kyle Korver has now gone four straight games without a two point bucket.
For the Pacers, Paul George continues to be a bright spot. This was Indiana’s first lost when George goes for at least 20 points. On the downside, George has grabbed less rebounds over his last 57 minutes (2) than he had in any one game previous.
Danny Granger is billed as this teams top scoring threat, but continues to struggle as he settles for perimeter shots. He missed four of five three points last night and is now shooting 27.2% from behind the arc over his last six games.
The pride of UNC, Tyler Hansbrough, didn’t get to the free throw line for the first time in 21 games.
Geroge Hill recorded a single turnover, the 17th straight game in which he has committed two or fewer.
AJ Price was 100% from the free throw line, but he saw his free throw percentage drop to 86.4% in his 17 minutes of action.
Darren Collison was held scoreless, the first time he didn’t get on the board when starting the game.
David West has tallied at least 10 points in 11 of his last 12 games.
Six games tonight, where should I head?
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