CHICAGO 89, PACERS 80
Bulls Rebound To Beat Pacers
At United Center | Nov. 11, 2006
No matter what uniform he wears, Ben Wallace haunts the Pacers. The veteran center, off to a slow start in Chicago after leaving Detroit as a free agent, came alive to pull 18 rebounds as the Bulls dominated the boards 51-28 to wipe out a 12-point second-half deficit and beat the visiting Pacers 89-80 Saturday at United Center.
Kirk Hinrich's 3-pointer with 19.9 seconds left clinched the victory for the Bulls, who scored 11 points in a row via second-chance points in the fourth quarter. The Pacers split a four-game, five-night week and dropped to 4-3. Chicago, which had lost three of four after routing Miami in the season opener, improved to 3-3.
PLUSES
Al Harrington scored 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting and Danny Granger was hot from the 3-point line, hitting 5-of-6 on his way to a season-high 18 points. Jermaine O'Neal had 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. Stephen Jackson scored 10 with six assists, Jamaal Tinsley had nine assists and Jeff Foster pulled seven rebounds in 18 minutes. The Pacers played well in spurts, putting together nice runs in the second and third periods, but couldn't finish their defensive stands by defending the boards.
MINUSES
Chicago had 24 offensive rebounds, 10 by Wallace, that resulted in 28 second-chance points -- nearly one-third of the Bulls' total scoring output. After committing just six turnovers in the first half, the Pacers had 11 in the second. O'Neal led the way with five and was 6-of-16 from the floor with most of his shots coming from the perimeter as he rarely challenged Wallace inside. The bench was utterly ineffective again, outscored by 12 and outrebounded by five. Hinrich finished with 23 points and four assists, while Luol Deng had 21 ponts and 12 rebounds. Andres Nocioni scored 12 with six rebounds off the bench. Wallace scored just eight points but was the single most dominant force in the game. The Pacers held the Bulls to .383 shooting but offensive rebounding resulted in an 81-65 advantage in field goal attempts for Chicago.
MOMENTS
The Bulls struck first with a 12-2 run that opened a 36-27 lead midway through the second quarter but Granger hit consecutive 3-pointers to get the Pacers started on their best stretch of the game. They outscored Chicago 26-7 spanning the second and third periods -- with Granger scoring 11 of the points ¡V to take a 53-43 lead. The Bulls cut it to three but the Pacers scored nine in a row to push the lead to 62-50 with 5:28 left in the third period.
But the perimeter shots that built the lead stopped falling and the Bulls took full advantage, chipping away slowly but surely. In a span of nearly 12 minutes, the Pacers managed just two field goals and nine points as Chicago put together a 20-7 counterpunch to take a 70-69 lead on Hinrich's jumper midway through the fourth. The Pacers kept the game close for the next few minutes and O'Neal's post bucket tied it at 77-all with 2:37 left, but things unraveled quickly.
Second-chance baskets by Wallace and Deng made it 81-77, but Granger hit another 3-pointer to cut the lead to one with 34 seconds left. Hinrich then got open for his 3-pointer and the Pacers' last chance evaporated when Jackson tossed up an airball from the 3-point line. Darrell Armstrong then complicated matters by too aggressively wrapping up Andres Nocioni after the rebound, sending both players tumbling to the floor and drawing a Flagrant Foul and an ejection for protesting the call. The Bulls padded the final margin from the line.
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