"The Bulls downplay any notion that they're developing a rivalry with the Indiana Pacers despite their hard-fought, physical five-game series in the first round of the playoffs last season.

The Pacers feel differently.

"I don't particularly have a great friendship with them just because of the players that they have and who they are, the history," Pacers center Roy Hibbert said. "But you could say it's a rivalry. I want to beat them a lot. As many times as we play them, I want to beat the hell out of them.""