Bulls get energized
This night played out like a junior high motivational cliché for the struggling Bulls, as though coach Scott Skiles screamed out in the locker room, "We're going to find out who wants to win a basketball game!"
If Skiles did say such a thing, he got an answer.
One player who was clearly fed up with losing and not going to take it anymore was rookie Joakim Noah.
Noah's enthusiasm helped ignite a brief respite from the horrible start to the season as the Bulls posted a 90-78 victory over the Atlanta Hawks and improved their record to 3-10.
The Bulls coasted home after a huge third quarter, even while shooting below 40 percent (.393) for the ninth time. They beat the Hawks (5-8) for the 12th straight time.
"It felt good to hear somebody cheering for you," said Luol Deng, who led the Bulls with 22 points. "This year, it hadn't really happened yet."
A sellout crowd at the United Center was as silent as a Bowl Championship Series support rally in the first quarter. The fans could barely muster enough interest to boo when the Bulls fell behind 13-4.
The home team trailed 17-13 when Noah took the floor at the start of the second quarter. The 6-foot-11 rookie slowly began to raise the energy level as he hustled after offensive rebounds and made a couple of steals.
His presence backfired later in the second quarter. After Noah poked the ball from Atlanta guard Anthony Johnson, he began to scream in celebration as Kirk Hinrich dribbled in for an uncontested layup.
But then Hinrich decided to return the favor and passed the ball back to Noah, who wasn't expecting it. The ball short-hopped the rookie big man, saddling the Bulls with the most unforced turnover in history as the fans howled in frustration.
"I don't know if I've ever seen such a play since I was 5 years old," Skiles said. "I don't know what to say about it."
"It was just miscommunication," Hinrich said. "I heard Joakim say my name, so I thought he wanted to run and get the dunk. Obviously, I wish I would have scored it. But he was playing so hard, doing such a good job, I tried to reward him a little bit."
That was just a temporary setback, however, as the Bulls finished the first half on an 11-3 run. Noah played the entire second quarter, piling up 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists and a block.
When timeout was called with 1:29 remaining in the quarter, Noah sank to a squatting position on the court, obviously exhausted. Skiles let him finish the quarter, though, after the break in the action.
The home team scored just 34 points in the entire first half -- but still led 34-30 -- then exploded for 36 in the third quarter, hitting their first 6 shot attempts of the second half.
Skiles mixed up the rotation slightly, sending Thabo Sefolosha in for Hinrich midway through the first quarter. Later, when Hinrich picked up his third and fourth fouls, Chris Duhon was sent into the game. Duhon produced 11 points and 7 assists.
Hinrich sat out the game's final 23 minutes and finished with 4 points and 3 rebounds in just 17 minutes of action.