It's a bird, it's a plane, it's ... Humble Man?

Before Monday's Game 2 against Indiana, Derrick Rose's alter ego, Humble Man, took a turn sitting in front of his locker.

“I'm an OK player. I don't think I'm like this superhero or anything,” Rose said when asked how he would guard himself. “I'm just a player that loves playing, never gives up. Any night, it could be something different. The other night, it was scoring. You never know, it could be passing or whatever it takes to win.”

OK then, it was just Rose talking, since he's not a superhero. A topic in the conversation was how well he'll survive if the Pacers keep bringing the hard fouls like they did in Game 1.

“I'm not worried about it,” Rose said. “As long as you play hard, you should be all right. I'm used to being fouled like that all the time. When you're out there playing around with a team, that's when people usually get hurt. If anything, I'm going to continue to drive to the hole and play my game.”

Coach stands behind Boozer:

When Tom Thibodeau got another question about Carlos Boozer's defense before Monday's game, he tried to put the issue to rest.

“He's a lightning rod,” Thibodeau said of Boozer. “The guy played 26 minutes and he gets blamed for everything. Look, Carlos is a terrific player. He started off the game very aggressively. He got into some foul trouble and then he was limited after that. He's got to stay aggressive when he has fouls. He wasn't responsible for all of our defense, I can assure you of that. Our team has to do a much better job.”

Rose surprised Bird:

The last time the Bulls met Indiana in the playoffs, Larry Bird coached the Pacers in the 1998 Eastern Conference finals. Now he's the man responsible for building this team, which made the playoffs for the first time in five years. He spoke to the media before the series began.

“This is a great experience for our young guys,” Bird said. “I can remember back in the early '80s in my first playoff series, I knew when it was over that I had a lot of work to do if I wanted to win a championship.”

Bird called MVP a three-man race between Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, then admitted Rose should probably be the winner.

“I knew he was a very talented player, but I didn't know he was going to be this good,” Bird said.

Game 1 milestones:

Ÿ According to Elias Sports Bureau, when the Bulls made a 10-point comeback in the final 3:38 of Game 1, it was the first time a team overcame a double-digit deficit in the final four minutes of a playoff game since May 8, 2004, when Minnesota did it to Sacramento.

Ÿ When Derrick Rose hit 19 of 21 free throws in Game 1, it was the most made free throws in an NBA playoff game since Kobe Bryant went 21-for-23 against Utah on May 4, 2008, according to Elias.

Orlando's Dwight Howard shot 22 free throws against Atlanta on Saturday, but he hit just 14.

Thomas ready to get rough:

If the series with the Pacers continues to be physical, Bulls veteran Kurt Thomas figures to benefit with more playing time.

“I love to play physical,” said Thomas, who played 24 minutes in Game 1. “There was definitely a lot of banging going on inside. It was a lot of fun and I don't expect it to stop.”