Candace Buckner

candace.buckner@indystar.com

Heat at Pacers%2C 3 p.m. Wednesday



As hard as the bench played Monday night and as much as they believe they got a bad whistle -- then a really slow one -- against the Chicago Bulls, the Indiana Pacers still let a superb opportunity slip away.

The Pacers' second unit outworked the Bulls through the fourth quarter and even recovered from a deficit that had ballooned to 21 points, but lost 92-90 inside a sold-out Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

"It's frustrating to leave it all out there on the floor, which is all you can ask," said C.J. Miles, coughing after playing more than 23 minutes while still recovering from an upper respiratory infection. "It's just tough, man. We left it all out there and that's all I can really say. I'm not saying that I'm OK with losing. I'm definitely upset about it. I feel like we went out there and we fought. We fought our asses off."

By the time Miles, C.J. Watson, Chris Copeland, Luis Scola and Lavoy Allen formed as a unit late in the third quarter, they had inherited a 77-57 deficit. However, they placed the Pacers in position to steal a win over the fourth-best team in the Eastern Conference. Scola sparked the energy with five points and five rebounds in the fourth quarter. Copeland showed passion in knocking down 6-of-7 shots and scoring 13 of his team-high 17 points in the quarter. Miles and Allen also pitched in with the effort as the unit defended Chicago into 17 straight misses, played fast and free and finally took the lead midway through the quarter. The Pacers bench outscored the Bulls 25-11 in the fourth. Then, the dream sequence ended.

In the final 6 minutes, the free-wheeling bench got too careless and squandered five possessions that could've helped close out the game.

For all his good, and there were plenty, Copeland looked wobbly in his decision making in those last 6 minutes; he launched a bad pass, lost the ball dribbling in traffic and didn't shield his aggression well enough from an official who called an offensive foul. Copeland committed three of the team's closing five turnovers.

"We definitely had some dry spots where we could've made better decisions, myself (included)," Copeland said. "That's part of the game. I take risks and I've got to live with it."



Also, during that stretch, the Pacers committed three fouls, including Miles' personal with 1:45 remaining after Scola lost the ball. That foul sent Joakim Noah to the free throw line and his makes pulled the Bulls ahead by one point. One possession later, the Bulls' leading scorer this season, Jimmy Butler, hit the difference-making 3-pointer for the 92-90 lead.

Then, with under 2 seconds to play, the Pacers got a defensive stop. Scola bobbled, then grabbed his eighth rebound of the game. Coach Frank Vogel aggressively sought the attention of the closest referee, Derrick Collins. Vogel wanted a timeout, but the whistle blew with 0.5 seconds remaining, even though Scola had secured the ball with more than a second remaining, well before the clock drained that deep.

The Pacers had just half a second to run a potential tying or winning play. Not much time, and though Watson ran across the baseline so free it seemed as if the Bulls had forgotten about him, his open shot from the corner 3 missed and probably would not have counted anyway. After the game, several Pacers reflected on the timeout call that did not come fast enough and a survey in the locker room revealed a mixture of impressions.



Did players on the court call timeout?

"Everybody was," Miles asserted. "Coach was yelling. Everybody under the basket was yelling."

How about the bench?

"Everybody was screaming timeout," claimed David West who was on the sideline the entire fourth like most of the starters.

And you personally?

"Mm-hmm," West said, nodding his head. "Everybody."

Did screams for timeout come before half a second appeared on the clock?

"I don't know," said Watson, who admitted he was too preoccupied in getting the possible outlet pass from Scola. "I'm not sure."

The only real certainty was that Vogel nearly popped a blood vessel in calling timeout and again while protesting for the officials to add more time on the clock. Vogel appeared heated in the moment, and though he had calmed by the time he needed to meet with reporters, he still did not seem content with the officials' explanation as to why priceless time ticked off the clock before the Pacers were rewarded a timeout.

"When air goes in the whistles, that's when the clock stops," Vogel said, repeating the reasoning provided to him.

However, several players revealed another explanation given to them: officials waited for the potential foul by the Bulls on Scola. So, it appeared after the Pacers picked up 25 fouls, compared to the Bulls' 16, the whistle paused to call a rare foul in Indiana's favor. However, that justification did not sit well with West.

"What other option is there going to be in that situation?" West mused. "You get a stop and rebound. You hear everyone one of us is screaming timeout. It's just a matter of the way things happen."

The Pacers had to resign to the 'it is what it is' line to justify the game's ending. That part was out of their hands. However, they could've made their own luck before that 0.5 timeout call.

The Pacers' starters cannot get outscored 78-42 by their more talented Bulls' peers and expect to win. Also, though the Bulls made it to the free-throw line 33 times compared to the Pacers' 21, the players have to do a better job maximizing those trips instead of shooting 61.9 percent as they did Monday.

"There were a couple plays. We had a couple opportunities to really get things done," West said, regrettably. "Those guys played hard and they got us back in the game – and we let a golden opportunity slip away."

Call Star reporter Candace Buckner at (317) 444-6121. Follow her on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.

CHICAGO (92)

Dunleavy 3-5 1-1 8, Gasol 7-14 6-6 20, Noah 2-7 2-2 6, Rose 5-20 6-6 17, Butler 8-20 9-12 27, Gibson 2-6 3-4 7, Brooks 0-4 2-2 2, Mirotic 2-4 0-0 5, Snell 0-0 0-0 0, Moore 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 29-84 29-33 92.

INDIANA (90)

S.Hill 3-7 3-6 10, West 5-8 0-0 10, Hibbert 3-8 0-1 6, G.Hill 4-11 2-2 11, Stuckey 2-5 1-1 5, Miles 4-11 1-2 11, Scola 4-8 2-4 10, Allen 3-8 0-1 6, Watson 1-7 2-2 4, Copeland 7-10 2-2 17. Totals 36-83 13-21 90.

Chicago 22 25 34 11 — 92 Indiana 17 18 30 25 — 90

3-Point Goals—Chicago 5-13 (Butler 2-2, Mirotic 1-1, Dunleavy 1-2, Rose 1-7, Moore 0-1), Indiana 5-13 (Miles 2-3, Copeland 1-1, S.Hill 1-3, G.Hill 1-3, Watson 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Chicago 60 (Dunleavy 10), Indiana 54 (Scola, Allen 8). Assists—Chicago 17 (Rose 6), Indiana 18 (Allen 5). Total Fouls—Chicago 16, Indiana 25.Technicals—Gibson, Chicago Coach Thibodeau. A—18,165 (18,165).

Heat at Pacers, 3 p.m. Wednesday