Chicago Bulls Pull Ahead Late to Defeat Indiana Pacers and Move One Win Away from Conference Semis

The Indiana Pacers kept the Chicago Bulls close until the final minute of their game on Thursday night. The Pacers defense was swarming around MVP candidate Derrick Rose and only allowed him to make four baskets all night. His only made shot in the second half was an important one though as he drove the lane to break a tie and put the Bulls ahead with 17.8 seconds left in the game 86-84. The Bulls would not relinquish the lead and walked off the court with a 88-84 victory.

Rose's trouble from the field did not stop him from scoring a handful of points. He was 13 of 15 from the free throw line to finish the game with 23 and lead his team. He was followed closely by Luol Deng with 21 points and Kyle Korver helped with 12.

The Pacers again let a lead slip through their fingers as they try to find a way to stop the Bulls. They walked away from the first two games in the series with losses after leading both by double-digit margins and Thursday were up by five points in the fourth quarter before surrendering.

Pacers star Danny Granger had a chance to tie the game after Rose's lay-up but misfired on a three point shot that would have given his team a one point lead with 2.2 seconds left.

"We didn't get the look we wanted," Granger said, "That was the best shot we could get. That wasn't the way we wanted it, but that was the way it happened."

Forward Tyler Hansbrough echoed Granger's frustrations with the game and the series saying, "We're really frustrated right now, I know I'm frustrated. We now have to work to stay in this series and win our game here at home." Unfortunately for Hansbrough the Pacers will likely not get many more chances to take down the number one seeded Bulls and his team should have been working to keep control of the games they lead for the entire series.