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INDIANAPOLIS -- Let's take a quick look at how the Chicago Bulls earned a 92-87 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

How it happened: Kyle Korver had a big night off the bench, scoring 20 points and hitting several big shots down the stretch as the Bulls bested their divisional rival. Joakim Noah had another solid performance, scoring 14 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Carlos Boozer added 16 points and seven rebounds.

What it means: The Bulls played like a team that is ready for the postseason to begin. They could have rolled over and decided to coast into the playoffs, but Tom Thibodeau played Noah and Luol Deng 34 minutes apiece. Unlike a lot of teams in the same situation, the Bulls didn't approach this game lightly. They played with an edge all night. That's just the way Thibodeau wanted it. The only bad sign for the Bulls on this night was that Derrick Rose still looked pretty rusty. In 25 minutes of action, Rose was just 3-for-11 from the field and seemed hesitant at times on the floor. His ankle looks a little better and he drove to the rim more, but he still didn't look like the Rose of old. There is still time for him to turn things around, but he only has one more regular game to work with. Rose didn't struggle as much as Rip Hamilton did on Wednesday. He was just 2-for-10 in 27 minutes and looked out of rhythm with Rose on the floor.

Stat of the night: The Bulls outrebounded the Pacers 44-37.

Bold play of the game: With 4:04 left in the fourth quarter and his team leading 82-73, Korver knocked down a triple and gave the Bulls the padding they needed to close the game out.

What's next: The Bulls close out the regular season on Thursday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bulls' 92-72 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night was personal for Derrick Rose, who had difficulty shaking the mental image he of the Pacers celebrating on the United Center floor the last time the teams met.

"Yeah, that's something that I don't forget," Rose said. " I don't know what they call it, but in my eyes it looked like they were celebrating ... [In an] NBA game, say, ‘bye’ to the other opponent, then usually walk off, celebrate in the locker room. But it looked like they were celebrating."

Rose dismissed the explanation by some Pacers players that they were celebrating the same way any team would after a big win.

"Yes, they did," Rose said. "Yes, they did. I saw it."

Bulls power forward Carlos Boozer said that the Jan. 25 loss and extra celebration by the Pacers was something that he and his teammates discussed before the game.

"We don't take it lightly when a team beats and celebrates on our court," Boozer said. "We don't forget too easily either. We talked about all those things before the game ... I just remember them jumping around and celebrating and we don't like that. We don't like anybody celebrating at our expense."

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CHICAGO -- The last time the Indiana Pacers were in town, they scored a rare victory at the United Center. And they celebrated it a little too much for some of the Chicago Bulls’ liking.

"Derrick [Rose] gets hype off people celebrating," Joakim Noah said Sunday night in Philadelphia. "When people talk about celebration I just feel like, 'You're not going to out-celebrate me.' Roy Hibbert cannot out-celebrate me. So if they want to see some celebration when we win, I can show them some celebration ... I know how to celebrate."

Now it is the Pacers who are annoyed the Bulls are talking too much about the Pacers’ celebrating too much.

This is becoming quite a rivalry.

“It’s fine,” Hibbert said. “We don’t do a lot of talking or anything like that. We just go out there and play our game and if they want to talk, that’s fine. We’re just focused on winning.”

Can Noah, the fun-loving, finger-gun-shooting bon vivant, out-celebrate the stoic giant Hibbert? Is that even a question?

“That’s fine with me,” said Hibbert, who made his first All-Star team this year. “My thing is to go out there and play hard and help my team win. He could talk whatever he wants to talk. He’s a good player, but we’re focused on one thing, that’s winning.”

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PHILADELPHIA -- Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose hasn't forgotten the way the Indiana Pacers celebrated on the United Center floor after a win on Jan. 25, and he is looking forward to facing them again on Monday night at the UC.

"I haven't forgotten about anything," Rose said Sunday night after a win over the Philadelphia 76ers . "I remember that."

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The Chicago Bulls' and Indiana Pacers' budding rivalry added another layer last week when Derrick Rose promised he wouldn't forget the way the Pacers celebrated after winning in Chicago.

Pacers coach Frank Vogel volleyed back on Monday with a jab of his own.

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Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose is not usually one to raise eyebrows with words, in fact some have wondered if such a humble, soft-spoken star could ever be an effective leader, but the reigning MVP had a few quotes worth noting after Wednesday's loss to the Indiana Pacers.

"I'll never forget how they celebrated just from winning this game," Rose told reporters. "I can't wait to play them again."

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CHICAGO -- With his team down by two and the clock winding down under the 30-second mark, Derrick Rose raced down the floor and the 21,755 people at the United Center figured he would do what he had always done. That Rose would come all the way down the court and make a basket to tie the game or give the Chicago Bulls the lead.

But when the Indiana Pacers defense collapsed on Rose, he passed the ball. Many people in the stands had to be shocked when he did that, but what came next is sure to have the city of Chicago talking well into Thursday. Rose, the reigning MVP of the league, passed the ball to … Brian Scalabrine?

Yep.

Scalabrine, who was wide open in the corner, missed the shot and the Bulls ended up losing the game, 95-90. After it was over, nobody in the Bulls' locker room was blaming Rose for his decision to pass the ball to the crowd favorite, who rarely plays in crunch time.

"We were looking for Derrick in the open floor and he made the right play," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "The defensive help was there. They collapsed on Derrick and Scalabrine was wide open in the corner for a 3. It is a make-or-miss league and he missed."

Scalabrine had come into the game as a defensive substitution for Bulls forward Carlos Boozer. But when David West missed a shot, Rose decided to run the ball up the court as fast as he could. He didn't seem to have any second thoughts about his decision.

"Trusting my teammate," Rose explained. "I think it was a good shot. At the time, I thought I didn't have a shot. And I think I made the right play. But if anything, I'm going to learn from it. We're going to learn from it as a team. We're not going to try and put ourselves in this position anymore. And put teams away early."

Scalabrine was clearly upset after missing the shot and left the locker room with speaking to reporters. But his teammates had no issue with his shot selection, or Rose's decision to give him the shot.

"D. Rose is D. Rose," Bulls guard Ronnie Brewer said. "He makes plays for himself, he makes plays for others. It shows his unselfishness that he made a play. A guy was wide open in the corner, [Rose] could have took a shot with a guy on him or passed the ball to a wide-open person. He passed the ball to a wide-open person who had a great shot, who works on that shot every day. It's a good shot, unfortunately it didn't go in for him."

The last word: "The score tells it all. They came out and played hard. They were the aggressor. And that was the story of the night." -- Rose

CHICAGO -- There were plenty of reasons why the Chicago Bulls lost Wednesday's night game, 95-90, against the Indiana Pacers, but two of the biggest ones, both literally and figuratively, were on the bench. Luol Deng (wrist) and Taj Gibson (ankle) had to sit and watch the Bulls struggle without them once again.

Never has the loss of both players stood out more. Tom Thibodeau must have desperately wanted to put in Deng to stabilize his shaky team during key stretches. Same goes for Gibson, who would have been the solid defensive presence the Bulls needed in the second half when the Pacers scored 51 points. They also ended up out-rebounding the Bulls, 44-41.

The Bulls' players knew they would miss both Deng and Gibson, but even they weren't sure just how much. Now they know.

"It's a lot," Bulls swingman Ronnie Brewer said. "Just not numbers wise [either]. Lu's a great leader on this team. We go through stretches where we're not playing Bulls-style basketball. He pulls everybody together and get us on the right page. Him and [Derrick Rose are] our leaders and we play through those guys."

Brewer's reaction reminds everyone that the adjustment the Bulls have to make without Deng in the lineup goes far beyond the numbers he puts together in the box score. Like Rose, Deng will huddle up his team on the floor and give them a pep talk when they need one. He was one of the guys the players listened to on the floor when they needed advice. After all, it was Deng who played in every single game last year and it's Deng who has spent more time playing for the Bulls than anyone else on his team.

While Gibson doesn't have Deng's tenure, he is a well-respected player in the locker room and a man his teammates trust to lock down other power forwards on the defensive end.

"Taj provides a presence inside," Brewer said. "Him and Omer [Asik], where it's pretty tough to get rebounds and get clear shots in the paint. We miss both of those guys. Hopefully we can get Taj back sooner than later. Same thing with Lu. Because they're huge pieces to this team."

With those pieces missing, the Bulls must now realize they have to find another way to build a win.

"The NBA is the NBA," Bulls point guard Derrick Rose said. "People are going to get injured. So guys have got to step up. We got to step up as a team. We have confidence in each other. We know what we can do on the court. But we just got to go out there and do it."

Against most teams, the Bulls are able to overcome any obstacle, especially the teams they've faced early in the season. But now that the schedule is starting to toughen up on them, they've got to find a better way to make big shots and play great defense in the clutch. Two areas that Deng, and to a lesser extent Gibson, were both proficient in.

"They're obviously some of our better players," Bulls center Joakim Noah said. "So we're not in full force, but that's not an excuse. We still feel like we have enough to win. We know we made mistakes tonight. We'll learn from them and move on."

CHICAGO -- After his team was eliminated by the Chicago Bulls in five games last season, Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger was angry, calling Joakim Noah's physical play "cowardly."

That was a heat-of-the-moment reaction, Granger says now, after a physical series on both sides. Hard fouls will return in this renewed rivalry, but not necessarily hard feelings.

"You're coming off a tough series and both teams are playing hard," Granger said before Wednesday's game against the Bulls. "It's over with. It's a new season. I'm not even worried about that anymore.

"There was a bad taste, but not about that, but the fact that three of those games we were winning and we kind of just let it slip through our fingers. That would've been a huge upset for us because we had just made a coaching change, and limped into the playoffs. We hadn't hit our stride. We let those games slip away."

The Pacers nearly suffered the same fate Wednesday, but they were able to hold on for a 95-90 win in the United Center. It was the Bulls' first home loss of the season as Indiana pulled to within 2 1/2 games of the Central Division leaders.

And the Pacers' celebration after the game didn't go over well with Derrick Rose, who told reporters: "I'll never forget how they celebrated just from winning this game. I can't wait to play them again."

With the addition of David West and Indianapolis native George Hill, the Pacers have built off that series and are one of the teams chasing the Bulls in the Eastern Conference through the first month. Given that these teams are Central Division rivals, these teams will see a lot of each other.

Indiana came into Wednesday's game with an 11-5 record, beating the Lakers and the Warriors on the road, before a lopsided home loss to Orlando.

Indiana has held half of its first 16 opponents to 90 points or less and lead the league by holding teams to a .413 shooting percentage.

Pacers coach Frank Vogel, who shed his interim tag after that series, said he hopes his players have a swagger after going toe-to-toe with Chicago last spring.

"We know we can play with these guys," he said. "We're off to a strong start. We feel like we're one of the best teams in the East and we're excited to compete against these guys."

Granger said he thinks the Bulls are the best team in the NBA right now, just ahead of Oklahoma City, and while he didn't see the first regular-season matchup as a statement game, he also thinks the Pacers are getting overlooked.

"I think a lot of people still don't believe we're as good as our record has shown," he said. "We were second (record-wise in the East) until we lost to Orlando the other night.

"You got those six teams in the East fighting for those top spots and Chicago's not even that far ahead of everybody else. I don't think teams think we should be there yet. I think they won't be convinced until 30 games left in the season when we're still there."

Granger said he admires the way the Bulls play defense, joking that either Tom Thibodeau is giving them "special juice" or "they got earpieces in."

Granger doesn't think the Bulls are vulnerable without Luol Deng, either.

"They went, what, 4-1 without Derrick Rose?" he said. "It don't matter if Derrick Rose is out, it don't matter if Carlos Boozer is out, it don't matter if Luol Deng is out. They still got a damn good chance of winning every game they play."

Does this have the making of that classic Bulls-Pacers rivalry from the Jordan era?

"I think it will be," Granger said. "Because the Bulls are going to be good for awhile, and our team is coming along. I mean, not only are we division rivals, but we're conference rivals. That rivalry is going to be there."

The Bulls look to extend their unbeaten home winning streak Wednesday night when the Pacers come to the United Center.

CHICAGO -- Let's take a quick look at how Chicago Bulls rolled to their second preseason win in a row, 93-85, over the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night at the United Center.

How it happened: Carlos Boozer played very well scoring 24 points and pulling down seven rebounds as the Bulls looked solid throughout the night. Richard Hamilton made his Bulls debut a good one scoring 13 points, dishing out six assists and grabbing three rebounds. Luol Deng added 14 points.

What it means: Yes, it was just one preseason game, but with Hamilton in the lineup the Bulls look like they added the piece they were missing last season -- a legitimate two-guard option who is a consistent offensive threat. Hamilton looked like he fit right into what the Bulls had already started building last season. He also appears to be in good shape. If he can stay healthy throughout the season, he is going to really help the Bulls.

Stat of the night: The Bulls had 30 assists on the night.

What's next: The Bulls open up the regular season on Christmas Day in Los Angeles against the Lakers.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Bulls rookie Jimmy Butler admitted that he was nervous before the start of Friday's game.

Why wouldn't he be? He was playing in his first NBA game. After he banked in his first shot, though, everything changed.

"Those guys told me to calm down and do what I've been doing for however many years now and that's play basketball," he said after Friday night's win over the Pacers. "They wanted me to be successful and I felt like I did all right."

Butler certainly did, scoring eight points, going 3-for-3 from the field and showing the type of intensity that the Bulls love to see.

"I told you he's great, man," Bulls point guard Derrick Rose said. "He's a great addition to our team. With him being so young and understanding the game. And he has a lot of confidence, quiet confidence. Where when he's out there, he's always doing something good. He can defend. Plays smart, man, especially being a rookie. He's one of the pieces I think Coach is going to use a lot."

That's fine by Butler, although he admitted he was still trying to get used to the fast-paced action in the game.

"Everything about the game surprised me, man," he said. "You can get away with stuff in college by being more athletic, or your length. At this level, everybody can do everything. It was definitely a learning experience for me out there."

Now that he's learned a little more, Butler feels like he's part of the club, like he belongs in the league.

"I definitely think so," he said. "That first jumper, off the glass, I didn't call it, so I don't know. After that, I think my nerves started to calm. After my first defensive trip, I was like, "All right, maybe I do belong here."

Brewer will play any role: If Ronnie Brewer is frustrated with the addition of Rip Hamilton, he isn't showing it publicly. The veteran guard said all the right things on Friday morning when it came to adding a new teammate who will probably take up some of his minutes this year.

"I think it's great for this team," Brewer said of the Hamilton acquisition. "It adds another weapon. It does a lot for this offense. [He] moves well without the basketball. [Has a] great mid-range game. Great leadership, and he's won championships. That's something that guys on this team are chasing to get. [With] the addition of him., he knows what it takes to get there. [Brian Scalabrine], Coach Thibs, those are the only guys who have experienced winning a championship. That's what we're trying to do. He practiced [Thursday]. We've been pushing each other hard in practice and working together to try and get better, so I like it."

So has Thibodeau talked to Brewer about continuing to start, like he did Friday night, and have Hamilton come off the bench?

"Honestly, I haven't really talked to him about it," Brewer said. "My whole viewpoint of the whole thing is wherever they have me coming in -- I worked hard in the summer to improve and get better, so if I'm starting [or] coming off the bench. I want to be better than I was last year. And that's my main focus, to help the team out. At the end of the day, we're all in it to win, win games. If it means him starting is going to give us a better chance to win the championship, I'm all about it. If it means for me to start and set the tempo and have Rip and Kyle come off the bench, I'm fine with that too. Whatever my roll is on this team, I'm willing to take it in stride."

The last word: "Turnovers," he said. "We can deal with missed shots. That's going to happen in a game, but turnovers, that's something that we've definitely got to change and it starts with me. A perfect game with me is no turnovers. I don't care about any other stat other than turnovers." - Rose, on what he feels like his team must clean up in the next week.

Part II: "It seems like we've played them 20 times," he said. "Doesn't it seem like we've played them a lot over the last 12-16 months or something?" - Carlos Boozer on playing Indiana again.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Tom Thibodeau wanted his team to turn the page Friday night. He wanted his players to stop thinking about all they had accomplished last season and start anew in Friday's preseason opener against the Indiana Pacers.

"Your first game, you've got to establish who you are," Thibodeau said after the Bulls defeated the Pacers 95-86. "And so, what our identity is, is not going to be based on what happened last year. We have to re-establish who we are this year. This is the first step."

To that point, let's take a quick look at how each one of Thibodeau's players performed after more than six months off from NBA action:

Derrick Rose: The reigning MVP did not come out of the gate the way he wanted to and he knows it. Rose had 16 points, but he turned the ball over six times.

"I think I had like three or four turnovers, a charge, travel, like some high school turnovers," Rose said. "But I know that comes with being excited. Just being out there, just seeing everything. But I know my game is going to come back to me since I've been working so hard this summer."

Luol Deng: The Bulls' ironman played a team-high 32 minutes and scored 16 points, but he had five turnovers as well. Overall, Deng looked to be in solid shape and picked up right where he left off last year.

Joakim Noah: Noah looked winded at times, but that won't bother Thibodeau as much, given that Noah appears to be 100 percent healthy. He was rusty, but he still had 10 points, eight rebounds.

Carlos Boozer: Not a good start for the power forward who has lots to prove this season. He was just 3-for-10 from the field, but what has to be even more disconcerting is that his defensive rotations were still not up to par. He looks to be in better shape, but there's no question Thibodeau would like to see him run the floor more.

"I did like the way he and Ronnie were playing off each other," Thibodeau said. "I thought his floor game was very good. I thought he had some bunnies that he normally makes that he didn't make. Some good, some bad, we just got to keep building."

For his part, Boozer said he felt fine physically, admitting to some rust like the rest of his teammates.

"I felt great," Boozer said. "No aches, no pains. Felt great. Felt great to be playing."

Ronnie Brewer: Thibodeau decided to go with Brewer after deciding before the game that he didn't want to play newly acquired Rip Hamilton. Brewer played OK at times, but looked frustrated at various points throughout the game.

Taj Gibson: The fourth-year forward clearly improved his game this summer. He scored 12 points and has obviously developed some low-post moves to go with his solid defense.

Gibson learned an important lesson during his hours working in the gym during the lockout.

"I just want to be patient," Gibson said. "Even if it's not going your way, just have patience, push through. Try to rebound, try to play solid defense. And the main thing is to just have confidence. I got more and more confidence as the game went on. And my teammates were finding me."

C.J. Watson: Since Rose got into foul trouble early, Watson was pressed into action sooner than usual. He got hot from the field, scoring 15 points and going 3-for-3 from behind the arc. Thibodeau was pleased Watson got some minutes with the first team.

Kyle Korver: Only took three shots in 26 minutes. The good news for Thibodeau is he appears to be in good shape and appears to be a little more active on defense.

Jimmy Butler: Everyone sung the praises of the rookie after the game. Why not? He was 3-for-3 from the field, had eight points and was also very active on the defensive end.

"You've got to remember, he practices against Luol every day," Boozer said of Butler. "Luol's one of the best three men in the league. If he can compete against him every day, I don't think he's going to be too scared of too many people in the NBA."

Omer Asik: The Turkish center picked up five fouls in 18 minutes. He told Thibodeau he felt good, though.

"He says he's pain free," Thibodeau said. "He's not in great shape yet. And normally he is in great shape. That's who he is. He's a great worker, but he had to stay off the foot for a while. He says physically he feels fine. He just has to get his conditioning up."

INDIANAPOLIS -- Let's take a quick look at how Chicago Bulls picked up a 95-86 preseason victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night at Conseco Fieldhouse.

How it happened: C.J. Watson had 15 points while Taj Gibson chipped in 14 of his own as the Bulls picked up their first win of the year. The tempo probably wasn't what Tom Thibodeau wanted to see, but he had to be happy with the way his team played defense after giving up 33 points in the first quarter. Obviously, the Bulls have plenty to work on, though. They turned the ball over 23 times and struggled to find an offensive rhythm for most of the game.

What it means: The Bulls' players talked before the game about how this contest was going to seem more like a regular season meeting than the first preseason contest. They were right. There was aggression on both sides, but there was certainly a lot of rust. Players looked out of sync most of the night, but the Bulls started to play better basketball in the second half and it showed. The Bench Mob had another solid outing, reverting back to last season's form. Rookie Jimmy Butler was impressive in his debut, scoring eight points.

Stats of the night: The Pacers were just 2-for-23 from the field in the second quarter.

What's next: The Bulls have a couple practice days before they meet the Pacers again on Tuesday night at the United Center.

DEERFIELD, Ill. -- With just two preseason games before the beginning of the regular season on Christmas day, Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau admitted that Friday night's game against the Indiana Pacers may look a little different than normal. Unlike most preseason affairs, his starters may see huge chunks of time on the floor.

"You have to get to your rotation," Thibodeau said after Wednesday's first practice. "You don't have the luxury of eight preseason games. Normally under those circumstances you give guys a game off, maybe on a back to back. And we're fortunate where the games aren't back to back. We approach all our preseason games with the idea that we're preparing for that first game. So we're taking it day by day, trying to move forward. We want to practice hard, build those habits and then the first game will be an opportunity for us to compete against somebody else and we want to establish who we are."

After months of waiting to play for real games to begin again, Bulls center Joakim Noah is ready for his team to be back in action.

"I just think we're trying to get better right now," Noah said. "It's exciting. We're working hard, happy that two a days are almost over with. But we're grinding, and we're excited to hit somebody else than our own team."

Noah understands he may be out on the floor a little more than usual on Friday night, and he's OK with that.

"It's kind of a funky year with everything that's been going on ..." he said. "But guys came in [camp] in decent shape and we're ready to go. We're excited for the challenge. It's going to be tough on everybody, but hey, at the end of the day, we know what our goal is, we want to win a championship. And it starts with camp."

As usual, Thibodeau wants his players to set a trend from the moment they step on the floor.

"It will be the first time out so, I think any time they throw the ball up, it's an opportunity to compete," he said. "And we want to establish who we are. The minutes will be a little bit different, but I want our guys to go hard."