Day 1: Bulls-Pacers (Game 1)

Due to his slightly over exaggerated comments about the Bulls, Danny Granger became the story of Game One even before the game started. When asked whether he would prefer to face the Bulls or Celtics in the Playoffs, Granger said Chicago. "Chicago, they go as Derrick Rose goes," he stated. "If you can make a concerted effort to stop Derrick Rose, you have a better chance of beating them."

To be fair, Granger didn't say anything inflammatory, or even ridiculous. Many people feel Boston, because of their playoff experience, will be a tougher out. And the Bulls do tend to lean heavily on Rose for their offense.

Part of the lore surrounding Rose during his 2011 MVP campaign is the Jordan-esque memory he seems to have developed regarding past performances. Jordan was the master of self-motivation. He scoured the Earth for anything that could be perceived as a slight against him or his team. Rose is the same way. It has been no coincidence that some of his most dominant performances have come against teams that beat the Bulls earlier in the season. The Bulls' 115-108 overtime loss against Indiana the last time the two met, coupled with Granger's comments, figured to fuel Rose to a monster performance. Much of the onus then fell on Granger's shoulders, as many looked to see if he could back his words up in Game One.

While Granger is Indiana's best player, I felt Tyler Hansbrough was going to be the key to this game. He torched the Bulls for 29 points on 10-19 shooting in their last meeting against the Boozer-less Bulls. I thought he'd be able to exploit Boozer on the offensive end and he did. Hansbrough provided the usual hustle plays, crazy eyes, and ability to knock down that damn mid-range jumper that Boozer gave him all game. Granger's 18 points in the second half (including the first eight to start to half) fueled the Pacers, but he won't go off like that from behind the arc all series. Hansbrough is the disconcerting match up because he can do what he did today every game.

I'm not normally one to harp for too long on stats, but today I will make the necessary exception. The Bulls are the best team in the NBA at defending the three-point line. They held teams to 32.6 percent shooting during the regular season, best in the league, and gave up less threes than anyone this year. The Pacers went 10-18 from three-point line. That's an  unacceptable 55.6 percent.

The Bulls are also the best rebounding team in the NBA. They out rebounded Indiana 49-34 (21-13 on the offensive glass) but were outscored 9-8 on second chance points. They gave up 10.1 offensive rebounds a game during the regular season. With a rebounding advantage as sizable as the Bulls' was today, there's no excuse for being outscored in second chance points. Three-point shooting and second chance points were what kept Indiana in the game. If the Bulls performed even remotely close to what they normally do in these areas, this is a double digit victory.

The Bulls closed out the game on a 16-1 run. After two Deng free throws, Rose scored or assisted on 12 of the Bulls' last 14 points. I'm not sure there is any other player I would want on my team at this point to close a game. Rose adjusted during crunch time. His shot wasn't falling (he went 0-9 from three) so he attacked the basket, as he did all game. He attacked the basket with reckless abandon, hammered home an "And 1," spun into the lane to finish off a 7-foot floater, made two more free throws and set up a wide-open Korver three with his penetration.

Watching the end of this game, it's easy to see why Chicago's critics think the Bulls are too dependent on one player. But look at the shots Deng and Korver knocked down this game. Those two, along with Boozer will have to pick up the slack when the ball is inevitably forced out of Rose's hands. Deng and Korver stepped up today. I'm not buying that this game somehow exposes an offensively flawed team. Team defense and rebounding were the two biggest issues today. Bigger than anything that happened on the offensive end.