Player of the Game
TROY MURPHY
Racked up his 23rd double-double of the season with 18 points and 16 rebounds, making 7-of-12 shots and falling just short of his seventh 20-10 game.
Plus-Minus
Name Game Season
Diener DNP -13
Dunleavy -3 -38
Ford -1 -193
Foster DNP -9
Granger -10 -82
Hansbrough DNP -56
Head -4 5
Hibbert -1 -43
D. Jones -1 -165
S. Jones -5 -141
McRoberts DNP -16
Murphy -5 -293
Price DNP -4
Rush -3 -168
Watson -7 -100
Noteworthy
  • Roy Hibbert handed out five assists tonight, his first with more than two in the last 13 games. That's the second best total of his career, and his most since having seven assists at New York, 1/3.
  • Tonight's game was the seventh start (2-5) of the season for the combination of Granger, Murphy, Hibbert, Rush and Watson, tying the most starts for any of Indiana's 20 different starting lineups this season.
  • Indiana is now 15-10 this season when scoring 100+ points and the loss to Chicago left the Pacers' record against teams with sub-.500 records at 13-14.
  • With his 14 points tonight, Earl Watson has scored 10+ points in three straight appearances for the first time this season.
  • Solomon Jones's six points 2-3 FGS and 2-2 FTS are his most since scoring 10 points vs. Toronto, 1/11.
  • Since starting the season 1-28 from 3-pt range, T.J. Ford has shot 4-5 from beyond the arc in the last three games.
    • Hustle Board
    Points in the paint:
    Pacers 42, Bulls 42
    Fast-break points:
    Bulls 20, Pacers 12
    Second-chance points:
    Bulls 15, Pacers 8
    Points off turnovers:
    Bulls 17, Pacers 13
    Starters scoring:
    Bulls 78, Pacers 75
    Bench scoring:
    Bulls 31, Pacers 26
    Stat of the Night
    The Pacers are 2-0 against the Pistons but 0-6 against the rest of the Central Division.
    Up Next
    After a week off for the All-Star break, the Pacers return to action Wednesday, Feb. 17 against San Antonio in Conseco Fieldhouse (7 p.m., Fox Sports Indiana, 1070 The Fan).
    Related links
  • Blog replay
  • Video
  • Box score
  • Recap
    • END RESULT
    Up seven with just under eight minutes remaining and enjoying a crisp offensive night, the Pacers appeared well on their way to heading into the All-Star break with positive momentum. Instead, they went flat down the stretch once again as the Bulls outscored them 25-9 in the final 7:42 to rally for a 109-101 victory before 12,945 in Conseco Fieldhouse on a snowy Tuesday night in Indianapolis.

    The Pacers shot 7-of-21, committed six turnovers, were outscored 10-1 from the free-throw line and outrebounded 13-8 in the fourth quarter.

    IMPACT
    The Pacers head into the All-Star break with an 18-34 record, three games behind last season's 21-33. It's their worst record at the break since 1988-89, when they were 11-35. The Pacers are seven games behind eighth-place Miami (25-27) in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls won their second in a row to reach .500 at 25-25 and are 10-17 on the road.

    QUOTEWORTHY
  • “(Derrick) Rose in the open court was the difference in the basketball game. He attacks like a running back. There is no point guard in the league that can guard him one on one." – Jim O'Brien
  • "The 14 free throw differential was another huge factor and we didn’t hit shots. I thought we had great looks in the fourth quarter but couldn’t knock them down.” – O'Brien
  • “We really wanted to win this one and go into the break on a positive note. We didn’t get it done. … We need the break and hopefully everybody will come back with a positive attitude and ready to go.” – Troy Murphy
  • “We stopped playing our game and they forced us into playing their game and that’s when we got in trouble. This is not the way that we wanted to go into the break." – Earl Watson
  • "I will rest for a day or two and then get back in the gym and work on my game so we will be ready when the break is over.” – Watson
  • "I think we stepped up our defense. They can score the ball real well, so we wanted to be more aggressive and take over in the fourth quarter. It was a matter of us knowing what we had to do to get stops." – Bulls guard John Salmons

    KEY MOMENTS
    The Pacers jumped out to a 13-5 lead but that was the biggest lead of the half for either team. The first half was a back-and-forth throughout with 14 lead changes and nine ties. The Pacers went on an 11-2 run late in the second quarter to take a 53-49 lead but the play of the half came on their final possession when Watson had the ball poked loose with the shot-clock winding down but recovered the ball and hoisted a 3-pointer from just inside the midcourt line to give the Pacers a 60-57 lead at the break.

    The Pacers surged out of the break with another 11-2 run sparked by 3-pointers from Danny Granger and Brandon Rush to take their biggest lead, 73-63. Brad Miller gave the Bulls a significant offensive spark to reel the Pacers back in and the home team's lead was 86-81 heading into the fourth quarter. Troy Murphy's putback made it 92-85 with 7:59 left but Rose sparked the Bulls on an 11-0 run that gave the visitors the lead for good.

    Granger's free throw with 3:12 left cut it to 98-97 but the Pacers produced two turnovers and a missed jumper on their next three possessions as the Bulls pulled away.

    BY THE NUMBERS
    Granger had his third double-double of the season with 27 points and 10 rebounds but shot just 9-of-23. He was 2-of-7 in the fourth quarter, missing all three of his 3-point attempts. Murphy had 18 points and 16 rebounds for his 23rd double-double, just missing his seventh 20-10 game of the year. Watson had 14 points and six assists but committed five turnovers. The Pacers shot .435 overall, were outscored 23-14 from the line and had nearly as many turnovers (16) as assists (17).

    The Bulls were led by Deng, who scored 14 of his 23 in the first quarter. He also had 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Rose scored 21 with seven assists and two steals but five turnovers. John Salmons was a force off the bench with 21 on 7-of-10 shooting. Kirk Hinrich scored 17 and Miller scored 13. The Bulls shot 50.6 percent.


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