Starting small forward Danny Granger is playing solid basketball against the Bulls and that should come as little surprise to the Pacers. Granger has played in 4 games (all starts) against the Bulls so far in this series and he is averaging 36.8 minutes, 22.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He is shooting 48.6% from the floor and 85% from the free throw line which are pretty solid figures for the playoffs when defenses usually tighten up. But, he might want to tone back on his three point attempts unless he starts making more of them. He is only 5 for 19 (26.3%) shooting from behind the three-point line in this series. For the Pacers to possibly pull an upset in this series, they are going to need someone to step up offensively and back Granger up.

23-year old point guard Darren Collison is starting to get really hot for the Pacers at the right time of the year. In his last four games, Collison is averaging 29.0 minutes, 14.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He is shooting 71.1% (27 of 38) from the floor in those four games. He has now played in 75 games (all starts) this season and he is averaging 30.0 minutes, 13.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game. The Pacers need Collison to be a little more selfish and to shot more as long as he is hot.

25-year old power forward Tyler Hansbrough has been stepping up big time so far this month for the Pacers. He has played in 10 games so far in March for the Pacers and he is averaging 32.4 minutes, 19.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 0.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Overall, this season, he has played in 56 games (15 starts) and he is averaging 20.7 minutes, 10.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. It was a smart move by new head coach Frank Vogel to insert Hansbrough into the starting lineup over Josh McRoberts, because he’s a better offensive player. The Pacers need Hansbrough to keep up the good work as they are trying to hold onto the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

30-year old SG/SF Dahntay Jones has played in 11 games so far this month for the Pacers and he is averaging 14.3 minutes, 8.6 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game on 54.3% shooting from the floor. Jones has only played in 22 games overall this season for the Pacers and he is averaging 11.1 minutes, 5.9 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. The Pacers were smart to get Jones out of mothballs because he played pretty well for them last year.

23-year old point guard Darren Collison seems to like playing for his new head coach. In his last five games, Collison is averaging 31.4 minutes, 14.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game on 54.7% shooting from the floor. Collison has now played in 45 games (all starts) for the Pacers so far this year and he is averaging 30.0 minutes, 13.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game. I think that Collison can give the Pacers more than he is right now if the new head coach, Frank Vogel, just asks him to. Collison has a huge upside.