Bulls hope to have Noah back for Charlotte rematch
During an ugly loss at Charlotte on Nov. 3, the Bulls had much bigger issues than Hornets guard Brian Roberts firing up a jumper at the final buzzer while nursing a 25-point lead. But during an 82-game season, sometimes a little extra motivation can help.
Bulls guard Jimmy Butler brought up the late-game Roberts shot when asked about Friday's rematch with Charlotte at the United Center.
"You can't hold a grudge, you just go out there and play," Butler said following practice at the Advocate Center. "But yeah you don't want to lose the way you lost. You don't forget about it. You don't forget about the dude that shot that ball at the end of the game. I don't forget that. I think that's disrespectful. It is what it is though. We've got to handle business tomorrow."
It happens. Sometimes NBA players get upset when a home team tries to score a late basket to get the home fans a free fast-food item. Sometimes guys just want to pad their stats.
The real issue is the Bulls need a better performance than they had on Nov. 3, when Charlotte scored 130 points in a romp. The Hornets were winless at the time, but have since won four of five.
"You hope your guys compete. That's the big thing," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "They know what happened a couple weeks ago. We all understand that wasn't a great effort."
The Bulls should be closer to full strength on Friday. Center Joakim Noah went through the full practice and should be available. He sat out Monday's win at Philadelphia due to soreness in his left knee. Noah declined to speak to reporters Thursday.
"He was a little bit sore at the beginning, but he was able to get himself loose and make it through the whole practice," Hoiberg said. "Barring any kind of setback, hopefully we'll have him in the lineup tomorrow."
Hoiberg had planned to start Noah on Monday in Philadelphia, before the knee pain persisted in warm-ups and the decision was made to sit out. Instead, Nikola Mirotic stayed in the starting lineup and snapped a three-game slump by producing 20 points and 10 rebounds. Hoiberg suggested Mirotic will start against Charlotte.
"(The Hornets) start Marvin Williams at the four, so we'll most likely go with Niko at the start of the game," Hoiberg said "We've got a couple of days after tomorrow night's game, and then we'll evaluate everything then. Niko, it's great to see him playing with that confidence again. That's the type of guy he has to be, and he has to play with that type of confidence, swagger, whenever he steps on the floor."
What remains to be seen is if Noah's sore knee ends up being a recurring issue. After making first-team All-NBA in 2013-14, Noah was never quite right last season after getting the left knee scoped that summer.
"You have to be cognizant." Hoiberg said. "That's the first, I guess, setback he's had. He had the kind of scary fall in a preseason game in Boulder (Colo.), sat a few preseason games from that, but didn't have any types of issues.
"The other day against Philly was the first time that he's had any real pain where he has come to us, come to the trainers and talked about it. So hopefully it's a one-time deal, it's over with. Do you have to be careful with minutes? Yeah, you probably do throughout the early part of this season and see how everything works out, but he said he's feeling 100 percent better than he was in Philly."
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Bulls scouting report
Bulls vs. Charlotte Hornets at the United Center, 7 p.m. Friday
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: ESPN 1000-AM
Outlook: The Bulls played Charlotte already this season and it didn't go well. The Hornets were winless at the time, but rolled to a 130-105 home victory behind 20 points from SG Jeremy Lamb. Now the Hornets (4-4) are on a roll, winning four of their last five. The scoring has been very balanced, led by PG Kemba Walker at 15.3 ppg, SF Nicholas Batum with 14.5 and C Al Jefferson at 13.5. Lamb and Jeremy Lin have also been playing well.
Next: Indiana Pacers at the United Center, 7 p.m. Monday
- Mike McGraw