Luol Deng bangs drum the loudest for Bulls
Who gave the Bulls the fire to pull this one out?
Luol Deng.
With 4:52 left in Game 1 of the Bulls’ first-round Eastern Conference playoff series Saturday, after Tyler Hansbrough had smacked Rose with a hard foul, Deng got in Hansbrough’s face after Noah had already given it to the young Pacer. Then the normally cool Deng gestured animatedly to the crowd to crank up the decibels.
‘‘I love that, love that, love that!’’ Noah said. ‘‘I love watching Lu play like this. He’s so focused right now, he adds a whole other dimension to our team.’’
Deng being a Dukie and Hansbrough being from North Carolina had nothing to do with it. It was just time for the Bulls to roll up their sleeves. And with Deng’s outburst, they started mustering the energy to avoid a first-game disaster.
‘‘I don’t think Tyler’s a dirty player or anything,’’ Deng said, a statement that’s open to debate. ‘‘But I think it’s part of their game plan [that] when Derrick drives, instead of just fouling him, to really whack him. Not that I think it was a dirty play. It was just a reaction. It just happened. I just stepped up.’’
Earlier, Rose had done some jawing at Jeff Foster.
‘‘If you think it’s a dirty play, you have to say something,’’ Rose said. ‘‘Luol and my teammates did what they’re supposed to do.’’
For long stretches before that, the United Center crowd of 22,986 was surprisingly quiet, perhaps unsure how to deal with the Bulls being pushed around. Deng’s intensity drew them back in.
‘‘I felt like we needed the crowd behind us,’’ Deng said. ‘‘We needed whatever we could get. And I thought the crowd responded and kind of got us going.’’
Granger on Rose
Danny Granger, who caused a pregame stir by saying, ‘‘As Rose goes, so go the Bulls,’’ said he never felt like the Pacers had the game won.
‘‘With Chicago, no,’’ Granger said. ‘‘With Derrick Rose on the other team, no. It’s like a crazy stalker/ex-girlfriend. Every time you tell her you don’t want to talk to her, she shows up at your door again.
