Pacers coach: Collison doubtful

The Bulls don’t know yet whether Indiana point guard Darren Collison will play–and how limited he’ll be if he plays. But Collison, who has vowed to play if he’s any position to do so, sat out practice Wednesday, prompting Vogel to call him “doubtful” for tonight.

With A.J. Price and T.J. Ford stepping in, Indiana carried on well after Collison went down with a sprained left ankle a couple of minutes before halftime of Game Two. But it would be Advantage, Bulls, if Collison, who was doing a really good job against Derrick Rose, is unable to keep that pressure on.

“They’ll definitely miss him if he’s out,” Bulls assistant Adrian Griffin said. “With his energy, he makes Derrick play on both ends of the court. He’s definitely a big piece of what they’re doing.”

That said, the Bulls know that their No. 1 seed and Indiana’s No. 8 seed don’t mean much when the games begin. With or without Collison, the Pacers, who pushed the Bulls to the brink before coming up short in the first two games, are a dangerous young team.

“I don’t think people realize how good a team Indiana is,” Griffin said. “We don’t want to sell them short and say we’re playing bad. I just think they’re playing great. Give them credit. They pushed us to the limit twice on our home court. We’ll try to return the favor and play well on their home court.”