Outpaced and the Loss of Deng

I confess I kind of disregarded the tough way the Indiana Pacers played the Bulls last postseason. I think I was just given a jarring reminder of how much a nuisance this divisional rival can be by virtue of a 95-90 defeat. Never mind that all five starters scored in double digits, led by Derrick Rose with 24. The Pacers came to the United Center tonight with a mission and they carried it out. All five of their starters had double figures too, but so did bench player Tyler Hansbrough. Without the services of Taj Gibson, the rest of the Bulls' bench combined for only eight points. That's all you need to know. Actually, no it's not. The second half was horrid in the sense that the shooting was poor from all distances and directions. It was horrid in that they were giving up fouls and losing battles on the boards. Worst of all, it was horrid in that they allowed Indiana, who hadn't won in Chicago since 2008, to take advantage of all of those mistakes. Translation: the Bulls lost on their home court for the first time this season. They better step up their game in all facets against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday so they won't have a bad taste in their mouths for the long road trip to come.

The second part of this post will reflect on the injury to Luol Deng. He missed tonight's game and appears to be out for Friday too. He has opted not to undergo surgery on his wrist and will shoot for a Sunday return in Miami. Let's hope this doesn't hurt the Bulls, who have done well in surviving injuries this season, too much. The last thing they need is for Deng to aggravate something, which would put the rest of his year at risk. He's missed the playoffs due to injuries twice before and this would be the worst time to have it happen. There's a reason Deng is the only holdover left from the days when the Bulls were just becoming somewhat relevant again. His contributions on both offense and defense have been impeccable and there's nobody in the starting lineup more balanced than him. His team needs him and that's why won't have surgery now just to go out for the rest of the regular season.

Let him play if he wishes, but I hope he's careful. Yes, Kobe Bryant has had the same problem this year and with his shooting hand no less, but as Deng put it, maybe Kobe handles pain better than him. In any case, if the Bulls don't win the title this year, I'd hate for it to be because the roster wasn't completely healthy. I'd rather they be healthy and go down in a seven-gamer with the Heat. Injuries have derailed many teams throughout sports history. Don't let the same thing happen to the Bulls.