CHICAGO 92, INDIANA 90
Gordon's Shot Spoils O'Neal's Big Game
By Conrad Brunner | March 25, 2007
Every once in awhile, this five-on-five game boils down to a one-on-one showdown between two premier players.
In this case, it was seven-on-seven.
Indiana's No. 7, Jermaine O'Neal, scored his team's final 14 points on his way to a season-high 39. But Chicago's No. 7, Ben Gordon, scored 31 including the game-winner as the Bulls pulled out a tough 92-90 victory over the Pacers Sunday in Conseco Fieldhouse.
After Chicago took an 83-76 lead midway through the fourth, O'Neal took over, scoring all of the Pacers' points for a 5-minute span including a three-point play that gave them an 88-87 lead and a turnaround jumper over Malik Allen that tied it at 90-all with 1:02 remaining.
Both teams came up empty on their next possessions, the Pacers because Chicago's defense effectively kept the ball away from O'Neal, so Jamaal Tinsley wound up missing in the lane with 14.2 seconds left. The Bulls put the ball in Gordon's hands and he drove into the lane stopped on a dime and hit a tough turnaround fadeaway with defender Mike Dunleavy's hand in his face with 2.8 seconds left.
With the last shot, the Pacers set up an inbounds play for O'Neal, but he missed a hurried 19-foot jumper from the left wing as time expired.
The Pacers (31-38) had a two-game home winning streak snapped but remained ninth in the East, one-half game behind New Jersey and Orlando (tied for seventh at 32-38) and one game ahead of 10th-place New York (30-39).
Chicago (41-30) won for just the second time in 18 trips to Indianapolis and improved to 15-21 on the road.
PLUSES
The Pacers battled throughout with Dunleavy feeling the early hot hand, scoring 21 of his 23 in the third three periods. He shot 9-of-15 from the field and had seven rebounds, five assists and a blocked shot. O'Neal took over in the second half, scoring 24 points of his 39. He wound up making 15-of-24 from the field, 9-of-12 from the line and pulled 14 rebounds. The defense was generally solid, holding the Bulls to 40 percent shooting.
MINUSES
Gordon is the rare player that can simply defy good defense and he did so time and again on his way to a 13-of-25 shooting night. In addition to his 31 points, he had five assists and two steals. Luol Deng (14 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks) and Kirk Hinrich (14 points, five assists, five rebounds) were effective only in spurts.
MOMENTS
The Pacers made the first big move with a 13-2 run in the second quarter that resulted in a 48-40 lead. They appeared to be seizing control in the third with runs of eight points to start the half and seven more later in the period to stretch the advantage to 69-58.
But Chicago responded with a 25-7 run, holding the Pacers to just three baskets in a nine-minute span while Gordon scored nine, and the visitors forced an 83-76 advantage with 6:33 remaining. That's when O'Neal got hot, outscoring the Bulls 14-7 in the next five minutes to set up the dramatic finish.
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