Going Upstairs: Pacers-Bulls Game 2 Reactions

I stayed up late to watch this one, secretly hoping the Bulls would put it away early so I could go to bed. I guess that's too much to ask for in the 2011 NBA Playoffs.

The Bulls won another thriller that looked awfully similar to the Game 1. The only difference is that in Game 2 I actually feared at one point that the Pacers would put it away, primarily because Derrick Rose had a sub-par first three quarters. You'd think I would have learned by now after a season's worth of MVP performances that no matter how poorly Rose plays all game, he always shows up in quarter number four. As was the case last night.



I'm not really sure what to take from this game. So far in the series, Indiana has matched our intensity and looked like an equally talented team, with the one exception being Derrick Rose. My fear is that when the Bulls get a less-than-spectacular game from Rose (yes, he is human), would they still have enough to win. It's looking more and more like a six game series.

Should Bulls fans be concerned? I don't really know the answer to that question, but my guess would be no. In the end the Bulls have more talent, better coaching, more star power, and are an overall better team. But that should be a given when you look at each team's record in the regular season. And it's still 2-0.

A couple of game notes:

- The Bulls had 20 offensive rebounds, and the Pacers had 24 defensive rebounds. That means that every time the Bulls missed a shot, it was about a 50-50 chance who would get the ball. Amazing they only won by six points.

- Boozer's box score looks a lot better in Game 2, but he's still not making the kind of impact we need him to. I think the Bulls need to get him involved early on, like they did when he first came back from injury, if for no other reason than to help save Derrick's legs for the end of games. But maybe Hansbrough is playing good defense on him.

- Derrick Rose's free throw shooting. Just worth noting.

- To anybody watching on TNT, wow. Dick Stockton was a complete trainwreck in the booth. This could be it's own post, so I won't get too much into it, but on the camera shots of the booth you could see C-Webb smiling in amusement at Stockton's complete lack of basketball knowledge.