Indiana Pacers took on the Chicago Bulls at home tonight. Chicago entered the game with the best record in the Eastern Conference, an could have been the first team in the East to win 50 games.  A win tonight would have been the 9^th straight win for the Bulls. Chicago has taken over the Eastern Conference and lead due to their outstanding defense. Tonight, however that outstanding defense was nowhere to be seen. Tyler Hansbrough is playing the best basketball of his young career. He has averaged a total of 25.2 points over the last 5 games. He managed to score 29 points and 12 rebounds tonight. Danny Granger added 19 points to lead the Pacers to a win over the Bulls. Tonight’s game was a preview of what could be a first round match up in the playoffs. Chicago Bulls were down by as many as 20 points. Luol Deng had 21 points, while Joakim Noah had 17 but it simply wasn’t enough. Derrick Rose tied a career high with 42 points but it wasn’t enough to keep their streak going. He scored 19 in the 4^th quarter and made three free throws with 1.2 seconds left to force overtime. The Pacers struck quickly in overtime. Tyler scored in close then stole the ball from Rose, leading to a layup by Collison that put Indiana ahead 106-102.  Granger made a 3-pointer to push Indiana’s lead to 109-102. Rose’s layup with 43 seconds left cut it to 111-108, but he fouled out trying to stop Josh McRoberts dunk attempt with 24 seconds to go. McRoberts made both free throws to give Indiana a 113-108 lead.  Rose was dominant, but once he fouled out the Bulls appeared to be out of options.

Chicago Bulls 108 – Indiana Pacers 115

The Indiana Pacers gave the Knicks an upset in what was a very exciting game by two teams who are still hungry to show that they can be good. The Knicks faced the same fate against the Pacers on Sunday when they lost 106-93.   

The Pacers held strong in the first half, but the Knicks weren’t easily deterred and in the third were able to bounce back and lead the game. This lead would be broken when a jumper by Darren Collison put the Pacers at 116 with the Knicks one point behind. The win was in the bag when Paul George stole Chauncey Billups’ pass to Stoudemire, he was fouled and sent to the line where he made one of his two free throws.

Carmelo Anthony made a layup at 7.8 seconds, but Danny Granger sealed the deal with a jumper with just 0.3 seconds left in the game. He want past Shawne Williams, a former Pacer who was received with boos and jeers during the introduction, to make the game winning shot.

Along with the suspenseful back and forth at the last minute there were other memborable moments. Indiana’s Tyler Hansbrough scored a career high 30 points – he had set a career record of 29 against the Knicks on Sunday. There was also the 10-minute absence by Amar’e Stoudemire who sat at the end of the first half after committing his third foul. He was replaced by rookie, Landry Fields, who allotted 17 for the night.

Besides helping the team win the game, Granger brought in 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists for the Pacers. Roy Hibbert brought in 15 while Collison  scored 24 and Paul George 5.

Melo was the Knicks’ top scorer with 29 points, Billups scored 14, and even with limited playing time, Amar’e was able to bring in 21. Shawn Williams didn’t do much to prove Pacer fans wrong by bringing in 10 points.

New York Knicks 117 – Indiana Pacers 119