The phrase surfaced some 15 years ago on the South Side, when the White Sox were piling up win after win en route to a division title.
Since the Bulls insist on doing this the hard way, maybe the Sox wouldn’t mind if they borrowed the phrase.
It certainly seems appropriate, even if it doesn’t sit well with Bulls coach Phil Jackson, who prefers calling this possible championship run a “Last Dance.”
The Bulls are simply “Winnin’ Ugly.”
The scenario played out again Tuesday night at the United Center, where the Bulls used their defense to beat the Indiana Pacers 104-98 and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals, which move to Indianapolis for afternoon games Saturday and Monday at Market Square Arena.
The Bulls have a 9-1 playoff record, but only a handful of those victories have been easy. And Game 2 against the Pacers was no exception.
“We just played a very scrappy ballgame against a team which played exceptionally well,” Jackson said.
Well enough to win, to hear first-year Indiana coach Larry Bird tell it. And when Bird begins to talk about ugly basketball, it has nothing to do with the style the Bulls have fashioned this postseason. Bird said he believes the officials are letting the Bulls get too physical against his team, particularly Scottie Pippen’s defense against Mark Jackson, which has been a key this series.
Bird said he also believes Michael Jordan, who scored a playoff-high of 41 points, gets away with too much. Bird understands that, since he had the same luxury during his playing days with the Boston Celtics.
“I’d like to see Pippen guard Michael Jordan full court the way he does Mark Jackson,” Bird complained. “We’d see how long he’d last. He got away with a lot of bumping and chest contact. It would be very interesting to see what would happen if he had to guard Michael.”
But Pippen doesn’t have to; his job right now is guarding Jackson. Jackson managed eight assists and was better at running Indiana’s offense than he was in Game 1.
That was one of the adjustments Bird wanted to make: using picks to free Jackson earlier up the court.
There were other surprises. The Bulls didn’t count on “the Davis Boys,” Dale and Antonio, combining for 23 points (Antonio had 14 off the bench) and 16 rebounds. The Davises took advantage of Dennis Rodman’s lack of playing time–and his lack of effectiveness when he was on the floor.
Rodman didn’t start and spent the evening in foul trouble, grabbing just six rebounds in 24 minutes. That was the main reason the Pacers had a 47-38 rebounding edge.
The Pacers also got a better effort from Rik Smits, who scored 17 points, and Chris Mullin, whose 18 points came on 6-of-10 shooting.
But the Bulls had a few surprises of their own.
Toni Kukoc started for Rodman again, scoring 16 points in 26 minutes. And the Pacers didn’t expect Ron Harper to lead the Bulls with nine rebounds.
Harper again handcuffed Reggie Miller, whose team-high 19 points came on just 4-of-13 shooting (he was 10 of 11 from the foul line). Miller is shooting just 33 percent (9 of 27) after two games.
Other things carried over from Game 1. The Bulls scored 26 points off 19 turnovers and had 15 steals, giving them 45 turnovers and 34 steals in the two games. Pippen had five steals, and Jordan became the NBA’s career leader in career playoff steals (362) with his four Tuesday.
Yet it still wasn’t easy for the Bulls.
Only when Jordan hit a 9-footer with 59.1 seconds left to put the Bulls up 102-95 did they really feel comfortable.
Rodman again played off the bench and had to be summoned from the locker room after Luc Longley picked up two quick fouls.
Rodman stepped on the floor with a little more than four minutes left in the first quarter and was quickly whistled for his first foul. He had three fouls by halftime and was a non-factor the rest of the game.
The Bulls fell behind by as many as nine points in the opening quarter, but by the time the third quarter ended they had a 78-74 lead after outscoring the Pacers 33-22 in the period.
Now it’s off to Indiana.
“The pressure was on us to win our first two games at home,” Jordan said. “Now the pressure is on them to win at their place.”
The way the Bulls have been playing on the road–looking better than they have at home–there is a lot of pressure on the Pacers.
“Our backs are against the wall–we know that,” Bird said. “They did what they had to do. They won two games at home. We know they play well on the road. We know it’s going to be tough.”
Or, at the very least, ugly.
