Bulls let victory slip through their hands

INDIANAPOLIS - T.J. Ford's go-ahead jumper allowed the Indiana Pacers to keep dreaming about making the NBA playoffs.

Ford's shot with 3.9 seconds left gave the Pacers a 107-105 victory over the Bulls on Tuesday night to tighten the race for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Bulls had a chance to tie or win, but Ben Gordon missed a long shot that was signaled as a 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

"It's disturbing," Gordon said. "We've been doing a poor job of closing games out all year. This was a game we definitely needed. It was definitely a winnable game. It was definitely disappointing."

"We knew (Gordon) was probably going to get the ball and luckily I got the switch on him," the Pacers' Danny Granger said. "We made it difficult for him to get the shot off."

The Pacers trailed by 8 points in the fourth quarter but finished the game on an 11-2 run, playing like a team whose season was on the line. Indiana won for the fourth time in five games and is 31/2 games behind the Bulls with seven games left.

Charlotte's home victory over the Lakers pulled the Hornets to within 1 game of the Bulls for the eighth spot in the East.

Granger, who scored 31 points, had built a reputation this season for making clutch shots. Despite that, the Pacers knew they were going to Ford for the final shot.

Ford worked the shot clock down, then drove left against Bulls rookie Derrick Rose before hitting the fadeaway from near the free-throw line.

Rose felt he guarded Ford well. "He made a fallaway jump shot," he said. "That's what you want people to take at the end."

The Bulls went on a 12-6 run during which four different Bulls scored to take a 99-91 lead late in the fourth quarter. They fell apart from there but gave the Pacers credit, too.

"It was just a good team that kept on battling," Rose said. "We had the game and just let it go."