Noah's spark lifts Bulls
Apparently the Bulls had a monster rebounder on their roster all season. Either that, or Ben Wallace was a better mentor than people realized.
Wallace made his first trip to Chicago since being traded away Feb. 21, while Cleveland teammate LeBron James was coming off a 50-point performance the previous night at Madison Square Garden.
But rookie center Joakim Noah stole the show, pulling down a career-high 20 rebounds to go with 13 points.
James poured in 39 points, but the Bulls were impressive in the second half and ran to a relatively easy 107-96 victory Thursday night at the United Center.
That gave the Bulls (25-36) their first two-game winning streak since Dec. 28 and 30, Jim Boylan's first two games as head coach. To get three in a row for the first time this season, they'll have to win at Boston tonight.
"Sometimes the ball goes your way," Noah said. "I don't want to say too much, because tomorrow I have to play against Kevin Garnett."
Noah downplayed all suggestions that he had extra motivation going against Wallace, a former teammate and practice opponent.
"He used to be my teammate and now he's my friend," Noah said. "He's someone I learned a lot from. To us, it's all about that playoff run, it's not about, 'Oh, you're playing against a friend.' "
Wallace was booed consistently during pregame introductions and on the few occasions when he caught the ball. But with James on the floor, it was easy to forget about Wallace (10 rebounds, 2 points, 2 blocks). Overall, it was a low-key return.
"I'm not surprised," Wallace said of Noah's performance. "He's going to be a good player. They have a lot of good players down in that (locker) room. It's just a matter of bringing it every game and being consistent."
James scored more than half of Cleveland's points in the first half, 26 of 51, while hitting 10 of 15 shots.
Even as things started to go badly for the Cavs in the third quarter, James seemed to be plotting details of his dramatic comeback. It never happened, though.
He ended up hitting just 3 of 12 shots for 13 points in the second half, and following the game, James conceded his own mortality. "You know, I can't shoot 10-for-15 both halves," he said.
The game was not close at the end. Cavaliers coach Mike Brown pulled James with 4:08 remaining after the Bulls' lead reached 20 points.
"Every time (James) put it on the ground and started to come toward the basket, we wanted to see three guys in the paint," Boylan said. "When we play like that, which we've done in the past, it's very difficult for guys to make things happen around the hoop. That was a difference for us."
The Bulls' offense made a remarkable turnaround at halftime. They shot 33 percent in the first half and 57.5 percent on the way to scoring 60 points in the second.
Luol Deng showed drastic improvement as well. He hit just 3 of 11 shots in the first half, then went 5-for-7 after intermission, when he scored 16 of his 23 points.
The Bulls' long-range shooters also made a nice comeback. After missing their first 7 shots from 3-point range, the Bulls went 7-for-9 the rest of the way.
"Sometimes you wonder why that is," Boylan said. "I believe the defense sets us up. When we're playing good defense and getting stops, getting out and running and getting things in transition, it makes things easier."
Trailing 53-49 early in the third quarter, the Bulls erupted for a 17-0 run. Before the quarter ended, Ben Gordon (23 points) put some room between the two teams by launching a personal 9-0 run that made it 80-63. He drilled a pair of 3-pointers and in between blew past James for a lay-in and 3-point play.
In the past three days the Bulls picked up 2 games in the standings on both New Jersey and Atlanta. They're just a game behind the Nets for eighth place in the East.