Bulls Hold Off Pesky Pacers

Derrick Rose scored 36 points, Carlos Boozer added 17 points and 16 rebounds, and the top-seeded Chicago Bulls pulled out another dramatic victory over Indiana, beating the Pacers 96-90 on Monday night in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.

Rose scored eight points over the final 4 minutes. Kyle Korver nailed another big 3-pointer to make it 90-85 with just over a minute left after hitting the tiebreaker in the opener.

A.J. Price hit three free throws with 23.4 seconds left after being fouled by Rose to cut the lead to 90-88. Luol Deng quickly answered with two of his own to make it a four-point game. Ronnie Brewer added two more after a missed 3 by Mike Dunleavy, and Chicago, which made its last 16 free throws, hung on to go up 2-0.

It hasn't been easy for the Bulls after they stormed through the regular season with a league-best 62-20 record. The Pacers hung in even though they lost point guard Darren Collison to a sprained left ankle late in the first half.

Rose continued to play like an MVP candidate, following up a career playoff-best 39-point performance with another big outing. He didn't get to the line quite as much this time but made the most of his opportunities, hitting 12 of 13 free throws after making 19 of 21 in the opener.

Boozer came up big after a quiet Game 1. The Bulls dominated the boards, outrebounding Indiana 57-33, and came away with the win even though they shot just 38.6 percent and committed 22 turnovers.

Danny Granger led Indiana with 19 points, but Tyler Hansbrough struggled, finishing with just six points on 2-of-12 shooting after scoring 22 points in the opener.

Indiana's T.J. Ford provided the shot of the game at the end of the third quarter when he banked in an 65-foot heave at the buzzer that tied it at 67, sending loud oohs and aahs through the arena.