Music to listen to: Small Town by John Cougar Mellencamp
If this matchup took place in the mid to late 1990’s, it would be appointment TV. However, in 2011, anything less than Chicago winning in five games would be considered an upset.
What to watch for from Chicago: This is the Bulls’ first time entering the playoffs with this current regime as the favorite to win the East. The Bulls won their last nine games of the regular season, 21 of their last 23 contests, have the most likely MVP (Derrick Rose), the potential coach of the year (Tom Thibodeau) and the ultimate momentum of having the best overall record in the NBA.
The thing to look for in this series is how the Bulls establish their player rotation. Chicago has used a rotation of up to ten players during the regular season but conventional wisdom says that this won’t stay the same in the postseason. While we can expect to see plenty of Rose, Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, etc., how much time will players like Tim Thomas, Kyle Korver, Omer Askik, etc.
The other thing to look at is how healthy the starters are. The Bulls played hard throughout the end of the regular season and players such as Rose and Noah got banged up. While Chicago will most likely win this series even if not a full strength, its worth noting to at least see how they look to start the playoffs.
What to watch for from Indiana: The Pacers finished the regular season with a record of 37-45, which should place you in the draft lottery. However, this is the East and it gets you into the playoffs.
Indiana is in the playoffs for the first time in five years and interim head coach Frank Vogel deserves credit for getting this under-talented group in the playoffs.
The Pacers have to hope that Danny Granger can emerge as an elite scorer, Tyler Hansbrough continues on his revitalization of his career which he’s done since the All-Star break, and a lot of luck.
Prediction: The Bulls are going to feel the pressure of the playoffs that not many players on the squad has felt. Everyone in their rotation has made the playoffs but never been part of a team that was expected to not only win one series, but to at least make the conference finals.
The Pacers will probably win one of their home contest and make the Bulls return to Chicago to close them out.
Bulls in five games
The Sports Inquirer 
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