As the Indiana Pacers dressed before their 104-98 loss in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals Tuesday night, their coaches scribbled a list of goals on an easel in the locker room.
Atop a list of offensive goals were “push” and “screen.”
Simply put, those were the major adjustments the Pacers planned after that 26-turnover debacle in the series opener, when the Bulls made the visitors look like a CBA outfit. Forget about fancy schemes that would help point guard Mark Jackson overcome Scottie Pippen’s suffocating defensive pressure. Forget about some chalkboard magic that would create more points.
Push. Screen. Basketball isn’t as complicated as some people like to pretend.
For much of the night, the Pacers carried out the plan nicely. They were far more aggressive on offense than they had been in the opener. But the result was still the same, and Indiana heads home facing a 2-0 deficit in the best-of-seven series with the defending NBA champions.
“A couple of loose balls here and there,” center Rik Smits said in the somber Pacers dressing room. “A lot of little things.”
As they did in the first game, the Pacers relied on Jackson to bring the ball up the court alone against Pippen. Jackson seemed more confident than he did in the opener. And this time his teammates didn’t resemble statuary.
As the Pacers built a 52-45 halftime lead, there were two notable differences from the opener.
The first was Chris Mullin, who had been embarrassed by his two-point output Sunday, when Michael Jordan removed him from the Indiana attack. Mullin knocked down the first shot of the game, a nothing-but-net 17-footer, and he went on to score 11 points in the first half on 3-for-4 shooting.
Mullin eventually ran into foul trouble but wound up with 18 points, almost double his average in this postseason.
Mullin also hit all five of his free throws. That was the other change for the Pacers. Their early aggressiveness produced a parade to the free throw line.
Indiana attempted nine free throws in the first quarter, hitting eight. By contrast, the Pacers shot only one in the first half of the opener, and that was due to a technical foul.
Indiana shot 32 free throws for the game. That was still fewer than the Bulls, who had 39, and a point of contention with some of the Pacers. But the increase was taken as a positive omen for the visitors.
Free throws are a tangible result of what coaches like to call “offensive aggressiveness.”
With the Bulls once again struggling to score–they shot only 42.5 percent from the floor in the first half–the Pacers had a chance to build a solid bulge early.
But the Indiana attack was every bit as sloppy as it had been in the first game, when the Pacers committed 26 turnovers, leading to 27 Bulls points. Indiana had eight turnovers in the first 12 minutes Tuesday, resulting in eight points at the other end of the floor.
The Pacers settled down in the second and third quarters. But with Indiana trying to whittle an 87-80 deficit with 8 minutes left, Jackson heaved an ill-advised cross-court pass. Jordan plucked it and sailed downcourt for a jam that ignited the United Center crowd of 23,844.
It was a virtual replay of several plays in Game 1, when Jackson had seven turnovers and Jordan five steals.
The Bulls wound up with 26 points off 19 Indiana turnovers. In Game 1, the numbers were 27 points off 26 mistakes.
So much for adjustments.
