Ushed Off A Poor Offensive First Half To Rally For An Optiuni

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CHICAGO -- Taj Gibson led five players in double figures with 23 points and the Chicago Bulls brushed off a poor offensive first half to rally for an 89-77 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night. Kirk Hinrich had 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting, Mike Dunleavy scored 13, Jimmy Butler 12 and Joakim Noah added 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Gibson, who was 9 for 15 from the field, also had eight rebounds in 32 minutes off the bench. The Bulls (40-31) pulled within two percentage points of Toronto (39-30) for third place in the Eastern Conference. The win also prevented Indiana from clinching the Central Division title on Chicagos home court. The Pacers are looking to win consecutive division crowns for the second time since joining the NBA (1998-99 and 1999-2000). The Pacers, who were led by Paul Georges 21 points, have dropped three straight and six of eight on the road. Theyve lost four of five at the United Center, including both visits this season. The Pacers earned a 91-79 victory over the Bulls on Friday night at Indiana. With the NBAs top two defensive teams on the court, points figured to come at a premium, and that certainly was the case in the first half. Neither team managed to score 20 in either of the first two quarters, and the Pacers took a 34-33 halftime lead when George Hill (12 first-half points) hit a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds left. The Bulls were 14 of 44 (31.8 per cent) from the field in the first half, including 1 for 10 on 3-pointers. Perhaps the most entertaining portion of the half came when the crowd got on Pacers centre Roy Hibbert for an apparent flop, a hot topic between the teams in recent days. On the play, Hibbert was fouled by Noah as he was beginning to go up for a shot attempt. While there definitely was enough contact to warrant a foul, it appeared to be light. Hibbert, though, dropped to the court flailing as if he had been hit by a flagrant foul. After the replay was shown on the scoreboard, the crowd began to boo. Noah stood off to the side with a big grin on his face. Following Fridays game in Indiana, Gibson accused the Pacers of flopping, and it was still the topic of conversation at the morning shootaround for both teams. "I mean, I havent taken a charge in probably four years," Hibbert said at the shootaround. "Hes entitled to his opinion. Im just going to go out there and play hard." The Bulls finally got into an offensive rhythm in the third quarter, starting the second half with a 16-5 run to take a 49-39 lead. A few minutes later, Indiana had cut the lead to 55-49 and George had the ball on a fast break ahead of the field. Hinrich, though, caught him from behind and looked as if he was going to give an intentional foul. Instead, Hinrich stripped the ball and the Bulls headed in the opposite direction as George complained that he was fouled. The Bulls completed the four-point swing on Gibsons dunk to make it 57-49 with just more than 4 minutes left in the third quarter. The Bulls took a 64-56 lead into the fourth after scoring 31 points in the third. They had balanced scoring in the quarter with Dunleavy and Hinrich each tallying seven points. Carlos Boozer, Butler and Gibson added five apiece. The Bulls were never seriously threatened in the fourth and held on for a relatively comfortable win. NOTES: The Bulls posted a 110-94 victory in Indianas only previous visit to the United Center this season on Nov.16. Indiana won both games at home as the teams split the season series. ... Pacers coach Frank Vogel when asked if Hibbert was the NBA Defensive Player of the Year: "Hands down. Hes the best rim-protector on the best defence in the league. I think thats who the award should go to. Ill be very disappointed if he doesnt get the award this year." Hibberts main competition could be Noah, who received the endorsement of Rockets coach Kevin McHale a couple of weeks ago. . Former Bull C.J. Watson missed the game with a right hamstring strain. Hydro Flask Gul . Scotlands Greg Laidlaw made one of two penalty kicks and all three conversions, and Stuart Hogg added a try in the second half. "The most important thing to come out of the game is that we did not get scored against," Laidlaw said. Hydro Flask Rea . They say things like "stress is when you dont know what youre doing" and "I wasnt hired to motivate players, I was hired to coach motivated players." They ring as true now as they did when Mularkey heard them the first time playing tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame coach 25 years ago. http://www.sverigehydroflask.com/ . The New York State Supreme Court only partially dismissed the lawsuit, meaning the case could be headed for trial. The tour announced a year ago that Singh would be suspended for saying in a Sports Illustrated story that he took deer antler spray, which was believed to contain the banned substance IGF-1. Hydro Flask Kaffe . The Jets have now won three straight at home and four of the last five at the MTS Centre. After a scoreless first period, Brad Marchand scored his first goal in eight games eight seconds into the second. Hydro Flask Sverige . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59.PARIS - Novak Djokovic easily beat 13th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 in only 1 1/2 hours Sunday at the French Open to reach the quarter-finals for the 20th major tournament in a row. The second-seeded Djokovic needs a title at Roland Garros to complete a career Grand Slam. He lost the 2012 final and in last yyears semifinals — both times to Rafael Nadal.dddddddddddd Djokovic improved to 12-5 against Tsonga, including winning their last 10 matches and the past 15 sets theyve played. In the quarterfinals, Djokovic will face No. 8 Milos Raonic of Canada, who beat Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. ' ' '