The Chicago Bulls have beaten the Indian Pacers to close out round one of the NBA Playoffs and they can thank Pacers head coach Frank Vogel for his comments Tuesday morning.

Even though the Bulls led the series at 3-1, they weren’t playing their best basketball and could’ve easily been down 3-1 in the series.

Game 5 presented us the Bulls team we witnessed in the regular season; an intense, hard-nosed, defensive-minded, united team.

Vogel stated:

                “We feel like if we win tonight, we’ll win this series.”

Those words awakened the Bulls in Game 5, blowing out the Pacers 116-89. The Bulls won their first series since 2007.

Derrick Rose, who suffered a left ankle sprain in Game 4, went through treatments and sucked it up to start the game. Rose put up 25 points and six assists. Keith Bogans went five-for-seven from downtown, scoring 15 points. The Bulls shot 45% behind the arc (14-31).

The Bulls started this game with a lot of energy and a well-established offense, something they’ve lacked in this series. Within the first 10 seconds after the Bulls won the tip, Luol Deng found Bogans for a three to start a 14-2 run in the first three minutes. Deng finished with 24 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

Danny Granger led the Pacers with 20 points and six rebounds. Tyler Hansbrough chipped in 14 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bulls played a lot more physical in Game 5, which resulted in four players in foul trouble early on. Chicago’s hard-nosed play also resulted in a Pacers public display of frustration. Pacers’ forward Josh McRoberts and Bulls center Joakim Noah were getting physical inside the paint. This included McRoberts showing his frustration by elbowing and shoving Noah, collecting two type two flagrant fouls which got him tossed out of the game.

After trailing 82-65, the Pacers showed their frustration

The Bulls defense forced the Pacers to 21 turnovers, while they only had 14 and held them to 39% shooting on the floor.

In attendance tonight were Joakim Noah’s grandfather and sister, his game was definitely loud due to family presence. He scored 14 points, grabbed eight boards, dished out three assists and blocked four shots.

The Bulls Bench Mob, almost non-existent in the series, out-scored the Pacers bench 36-30. Korver scored 13 points, CJ Watson dished out seven assists, six in the fourth quarter. Taj Gibson added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Carlos Boozer continued struggling in this series, talling two points and five rebounds. He was benched with 6:17 remaining in the third and did not return. Boozer mentioned that he felt his right big toe pop early in the second quarter. No results returned on his condition yet.

Bulls Extras: Whoever wins the series between the Orlando Magic-Atlanta Hawks will face the Chicago Bulls in the second round…The Bulls out-scored the Pacers in the third quarter 30-19…Dish alert: Bulls posted 27 assists on the night while Indiana only had 14.

The turnovers and below-average shooting was bound to catch up with the Chicago Bulls in the first round playoff vs. the Indiana Pacers. On Saturday afternoon, it did as the Bulls dropped Game 4 to the Pacers 89-84.

Derrick Rose scored seven of his 15 points in the first quarter before turning his left ankle on a driving layup with 1:14 remaining. He would return, but went 3-16 on the floor. He also tallied 10 assists, four steals and three turnovers.

The Bulls rallied back in the fourth quarter. The Bulls trailed by 16 points, 82-66, with 5:05 left in regulation. However, the Bulls went on a 10-0 run, including a steal-turned-into-dunk by Rose, bringing it within three, 84-81 with 38.9 seconds left. Joakim Noah converted a three-point play; the Bulls were within one with 15 seconds, giving them a chance to win with plenty of time on the clock.

The Bulls called a timeout; probably drawing up a play with Kyle Korver involved, tying the game up. Luol Deng couldn’t find Korver open, so went with the option of Carlos Boozer for the baseline three and the tie. But it rimmed out.

The Bulls shot 37.8% on the floor and went 3-20 behind the arc. The Pacers shot 39.2% on the floor and went 5-16 behind the arc.

Noah led the way for the Bulls with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Despite having four turnovers, Boozer scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Korver scored nine points, seven in the fourth off the bench and Deng chipped in 16 points.

Danny Granger had 24 points and 10 rebounds, including four free throws in the final seconds to secure the Pacers’ first win in this series. Roy Hibbert scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. The Pacers bench outscored the Bulls bench 30-17.

The Bulls will have some time off until Game 5, more than enough time to recuperate and re-evaluate the series. The Bulls need to step up on the offense, especially with turnover issue. The Bench Mob has been almost non-existent; this series the Bulls Bench has been out-scored 128-84.

Bulls Extras: Game 5 will be Tuesday night at the United Center…The Bulls lead the series 3-1…Indiana out-scored the Bulls in the second quarter 26-14…Derrick Rose is scheduled for an MRI, but is expected to play.

“If you fall down, get up and go even harder…” should be the motto of All-Star and MVP candidate Derrick Rose, at least in the series vs. the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Playoffs.

Rose only shot 4-18 on the floor; however, he hit 13-15 free throws for 23 points, four steals and five turnovers. Rose knows that if the jumper isn’t there, drive to the line like the Ferrari he is known to be. And he also has teammates that can put up a solid game, Deng scoring 14 of his 21 points in the first half.

                “So what? I missed shots, my teammates were hitting them.” -Rose

In this series, the Chicago Bulls have taken a 3-0 lead with Thursday’s 88-84 win, but none of that has come easy. In these three games, Rose has taken hard hits driving the lane, some involving elbows and body slams, and some involving no fouls being called, but Rose has made the Pacers pay, going 44-49 from the free throw line alone.

This series has shown most intensity in the fourth quarter, because even though the Bulls have trailed or lost the lead at one point, they have managed to comeback to win it all. At the start of the fourth, the Bulls trailed 70-65 with 9:29 remaining, until Noah split a pair of free throws, and Korver sparking a 10-0 run, hitting a jumper to bring the Bulls back within two. Rose then hit four from the charity stripe. Boozer stole a bad pass from Darren Collison, which led Rose to find Korver for a three-pointer over Collison for the 75-70 lead with 7:04 remaining.

Korver contributed 12 points off the bench, 10 of them came in the fourth quarter. Noah went three-for-six on the floor with 11 points, 10 rebound and four blocks. Boozer grabbed 11 rebounds and Deng had six rebounds and six assists in 45 minutes with his 21. Keith Bogans went three-for-four from behind the arc for nine points.

Darren Collison returned to the Pacers lineup after leaving midway through Game 2 with a sprained left ankle and scored nine points in 34 minutes and turned the ball over four times. Danny Granger led the way for the Pacers with 21 points, but missed a potential game-winning three with 2.9 seconds. Tyler Hansbrough was held to 10 points and five rebounds. Dahntay Jones scored 11 points off the bench.

This is the first game that the Bulls managed a higher shooting percentage both on the floor and from downtown. The shot 38.9% to Indiana’s 37.9% on the floor and went an even 45% (9-20) from the three. Indiana only went one-for-ten behind the arc at 10%. The Bulls shared the ball and made the extra pass, dishing out 20 assists.

Bulls Extras: The Bulls captured their first ever playoffs win at Conseco Fieldhouse and will try to go for the sweep on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 pm…

It was almost a case of déjà vu, with some differences, as the Chicago Bulls beat the Indiana Pacers, 96-90, taking a 2-0 series lead in Game 2 of the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

For instances, the Bulls didn’t wait until the 1:27 mark of the fourth quarter to have their first lead, and Carlos Boozer had a much more solid game.

The Bulls aren’t exceeding our expectations either. They have been turning the ball over more frequent, 37 in the series so far. Coach Thibs can’t be too happy about that:

“They are defending well, and we are holding onto the ball. It is usually a result of too much one-one-one (play), risky passes. Those are two major reasons for turnovers. We have to clean it up.” – Bulls Head Coach Tom Thibodeau

Speaking of on-one-one games, the Bulls haven’t been making those extra passes, dishing out only 33 assists in these two games to Indiana’s 43.

The Bulls big men, Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer, did make up for that on the boards, they out-rebounded the Pacers 57-33, including 20 offensive boards (six from Noah, five from Boozer). Boozer added 17 points to his 16 rebounds.

After going 0-9 from downtown, Derrick Rose went two-for-five, scoring 36 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out six assists, but he was forced into six turnovers. He also went 12-13 from the free throw line.

The dagger of the game came from a clutch three by sharp-shooter, Kyle Korver. Noah drove into the lane and kicked it out to Korver on the corner wing giving the Bulls a 90-85 lead with 1:04 remaining in regulation. Korver finished with five of the Bench Mob’s 22 points. Noah finished with 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and four turnovers.

Luol Deng chipped in 14 points and six rebounds. CJ Watson led the Bench Mob with seven points (three-for-six shooting).

The Bulls managed to go 27-34 from the charity stripe, hitting the final 16 in a row.

The Pacers kept up with the Bulls for two games but couldn’t manage a win.

Danny Granger led the way for the Pacers with 19 points. Meanwhile, Tyler Hansbrough (coming off a 22 point performance) was held to just six points. A.J. Price chipped in 13 points off the bench. T.J. Ford did tie the game at 67 when he banked a half court shot at the buzzer at the end of the third and a jump shot to take a two-point lead at the start of the fourth, 69-67.

Once the see-saw game faded, Rose’s three-point play gave the Bulls a lead and a run with 5:16 remaining and went on for the win.

The Bulls will be visiting Indiana for games three and four Thursday and Saturday.

Bulls Extras: The Bulls only shot 39% on the floor, Indiana shot 42%…Rose scored 13 of his 36 points in the first half…Kurt Thomas scored four points (three-for-six on the floor) in 10 minutes…Jeff Foster scored nine points for the Pacers off the bench, their bench out-scored the Bulls Bench Mob 43-22.