Bulls Win 92-72

"Get your hard hat an lunch pail Taj Gibson," exclaimed Bulls color commentator Stacey King with about three minutes left in the third quarter.
Let's back up a second. Gibson had just converted a tough tap-in after a Derrick Rose miss to extend the Bulls' lead to 13 in the midst of a 20-4 Chicago run. This workman-like, blue-collar effort was indicative of their entire game performance.

Chicago's 92-72 win over Indiana was not as easy as the score suggests. the Pacers maintained a one-point lead at halftime and were holding the Bulls to 39% shooting. Then in the third quarter, the Bulls made 12 of their 21 shots to build a 19 point lead.

Though the starters built their lead in the third, Chicago's bench mob had to keep them in the game before halftime. John Lucas III, backing up Derrick Rose in place of injured CJ Watson, scored 13 points off the bench, including nine in the first two periods.
Taj Gibson, for whom the Bulls ran multiple baseline iso plays, rendered starter Carlos Boozer's lackluster performance inconsequential, finishing with ten points and nine rebounds.
Ronnie Brewer, was forced to resume his role as a spot starter after Richard Hamilton injured his shoulder just two minutes into the game. He finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Tonight, the team with the best record in the NBA defeated the current third seed in the Eastern Conference. It was a close game in the first half. But the White Mamba's entrance late in the fourth quarter displayed the abyss present between those two seeds.