No call, but Pacers cry foul after OT loss to Bulls

Candace Buckner | IndyStar

CHICAGO – The coach was hopping mad. Still he held his tongue, and watched his wallet, once the cameras turned on.

The star, thoroughly convinced that another injustice had befallen him on the basketball court, was silent at the front stall in the spacious visitors' locker room. Still he seethed inside. So he couldn't keep his peace. Not after this game. Not after the 102-100 loss in overtime.

"Same result as last time," said Paul George, who finished with 19 points (7-of-20 shooting) "Another questionable no call at the end."

Once again, the Indiana Pacers-Chicago Bulls matchup came down to one last shot. On Wednesday, after Bulls forward Jimmy Butler made lemonade from a busted play -- guiding in a lob pass from Pau Gasol over George with 1.2 seconds remaining to give the Bulls the two-point advantage -- the Pacers ran a near perfection last-second play . George Hill sprinted in from the backcourt, George set the screen for Hill and in the process got a step on his defender, Butler, while diving towards the basket as Chase Budinger lofted an inbounds pass to the rim.

George soared, as did Butler. But on the replay, it appeared that while George got a hand on the ball, Butler got a hand on his wrist.

• BOX SCORE: Bulls 102, Pacers 100

In spite of the contact, the officials did not call a foul. Game over. Just like Nov. 16 when George had the ball in his hands and Butler in his way of making a game-tying shot. Much contact ensued on the play, too, and George missed the shot. After that loss, Pacers coach Frank Vogel said: "I didn’t think there was a foul." When asked for this thoughts whether a foul occurred, George, in a tongue in cheek manner, said: "Obviously not, it was a no call."

But on Wednesday night, all the emotions that were muted after the November loss poured out front and center.

As soon as George crashed to the hardwood, Vogel sprang from his sideline seat, leaping and stomping on to the court with his arms spread out toward the officials. On his way back to the locker room, Vogel, still fuming, angrily ripped off his suit jacket in a move that would've made Bruce Banner proud, and possibly frightened.

But while Vogel certainly showed his anger with demonstrative complaints on the court, he zipped his lips during the postgame interview.

"I’ll address it with you later," Vogel responded when asked for what he saw. "No comment on that play."

George, however, expressed his mind.

"I couldn’t finish," George said. "I got bodied and I couldn’t finish. He didn’t touch the ball. There was no block. I couldn’t shoot the layup because he came down on my arm. It sucks but I’ve been fighting this battle for a while."

When noting the difference between the Gasol-to-Butler lob and his own last-second play with Budinger, George added: "The only thing is I didn’t foul him."

This adds to a season-long scroll of George versus the refs -- a 'battle' that has cost him nearly $60,000 in fines for public criticism and technical fouls. Still, if George and the Pacers (18-13) rewind to the moments before the questionable no-call to end the game, they would find that without a question, this game was theirs to win.

With less than 3 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Pacers led 82-75. In spite of his shooting slump that carried into Chicago, George got hot to make 3-of-4 attempts in the final quarter. And though Indiana missed starting center Ian Mahinmi, who left the game in the third quarter with a sore left knee, the team was still standing up defensively with rookie Myles Turner, fresh off a six-week layoff from his broken left thumb injury. In that quarter, the Pacers forced the Bulls into six turnovers and scored five points off those mistakes.

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Still, the Pacers' own miscues gave this one away. While leading 89-86 with 53.6 seconds remaining, point guard George Hill lost his concentration, then the ball.

"That was my fault," Hill said. "Just me not paying attention really, being careless with the ball. Aaron (Brooks) made a great stab at the ball and I kinda lost control of it. That’s on me. I shouldn’t have been able to put my team in that position for us to even get to overtime. We should’ve had a good shot in that position there. I take credit for that."

Butler hit the game-tying 3 on the Bulls' next possession and with the game locked at 91 in the final seconds, George made the blunder that sent the game into overtime.

The Pacers had possession for the final 25 seconds, enough to drain the shot clock, make the go-ahead bucket and give Chicago very little time to respond. George held on to the ball but when Ellis came up for the screen, he picked up his dribble against the defensive shift, then threw the ball to Ellis to attempt a desperate 30-footer. Ellis, who finished the game 4-of-19 in shooting, could not save the day.

So as much as the replay shows the Pacers may be justified in crying foul, their own actions led to this similar frustrating end.

"That’s on me," George said of the final play in regulation. "When Monta came up I thought they (were) trying to trap that and they just switched. It messed me up, I thought they were going to trap that."

Follow Star reporter Candace Buckner on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.

MILWAUKEE AT INDIANA

Tipoff: 6 p.m. Thursday

TV: Fox Sports Indiana.

Radio: WFNI-AM (1070), -FM (93.5).

BUCKS (12-21)

Projected starters

Pos. Player PPG Key stat PG M. Carter-Williams 12.1 4.4 apg SG Khris Middleton 15.8 3.6 apg SF Jabari Parker 10.5 4.1 rpg PF G. Antetokounmpo 15.6 6.7 rpg C Greg Monroe 15.1 9.6 rpg 6th O.J. Mayo 10.5 3.2 apg

PACERS (18-13)

Projected starters

Pos. Player PPG* Key stat* PG George Hill 11.9 3.8 rpg SG Monta Ellis 13.1 4.4 apg SF Paul George 24.2 7.6 rpg PF C.J. Miles 14.6 39.5 3-pt% C Ian Mahinmi 8.3 7.1 rpg 6th Rodney Stuckey 10.5 3.6 rpg

STORYLINES

NO KIDDING AROUND: The Bucks started this season as a young team on the rise, expected to progress from their playoff run from last year. But 33 games into the season, they are near the bottom of the conference standings and now their head coach Jason Kidd will be missing. He underwent a hip procedure and is expected to miss four to six weeks, according to reports. Joe Prunty serves as interim head coach.

BUCK STOPS HERE … IN THE PAINT: In spite of Milwaukee’s subpar record, the team can still do damage with interior scoring. The Bucks lead the league in averaging 48.2 points per game in the paint. However during the last matchup, the Pacers matched Milwaukee’s 50 points in the paint and still won 123-86.

PREDICTION: Indiana now moves on to a final game of the 2015 calendar. Possibly down two centers (Mahinmi and Jordan Hill who had a wisdom tooth extracted on Wednesday) and down to sixth in the Eastern Conference standings.

Even with several key players sidelined (Miles missed his second consecutive game on Wednesday), the Pacers should still have enough depth to defend the interior-minded Bucks. The infusion of rookie center Myles Turner helps in the tall order of holding Milwaukee to its average. Pacers win 113-89.

— Candace Buckner