Fired-up Hughes torches his former team
CLEVELAND -- Ben Wallace was booed when he returned to Chicago with the Cavaliers. Bulls guard Larry Hughes gets the same treatment in Cleveland.
Booed during pregame introductions and nearly every time he touched the ball, Hughes played a terrific game with 25 points and 9 rebounds in the Bulls' 101-98 victory Thursday.
"The stuff you hear in the stands, once you turn around and find out who said something, everybody gets quiet," Hughes said. "I don't have any complaints. I wanted to have a good game either way."
Hughes did admit to having some extra motivation against his former team, where he spent 2½ seasons before being sent to the Bulls on Feb. 21. There is one Bulls-Cavs game remaining next week in Chicago.
"We want to win the series," he said. "Coming over to a new team, we see these guys four times. We want to come out on top, if nothing else just for bragging rights when we see the guys in the summertime."
Boylan recalls roots: Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena has been redecorated after an ownership change, but one thing that remains is Jim Boylan's signature on a wall near the locker rooms. He was part of the first team to play in the building.
Boylan's NBA career began with Cleveland in 1992 when he was hired as a video coordinator. He went on to spend five years on the coaching staff under Lenny Wilkens and Mike Fratello, who was at Thursday's game as part of the TNT broadcast crew.
Before the contest, Boylan recounted the story of how he went from head coach at the University of New Hampshire to an NBA assistant. His connection was Cleveland general manager Wayne Embry, who worked for the Milwaukee Bucks while Boylan played in college at Marquette.
"That's how it started, it was Wayne Embry wanting to have someone with basketball knowledge in the video department," Boylan said. "I was a one-man show, president of video productions. I was also vice president of video productions."
Wallace back in action: Former Bulls center Ben Wallace returned to the starting lineup Thursday after missing four of the previous five games with back spasms.
Wallace said he developed a pinched nerve in his back, which started hurting the last time the Bulls visited Cleveland on March 2.
The veteran center finished with 6 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks in 32 minutes. He missed an open dunk late in the game.
Bull horns: Drew Gooden made the trip to Cleveland, but missed his third game with a lower abdominal strain. ... Andres Nocioni was under the weather but scored 15 points in 22 minutes. ... One key to the Bulls' comeback was committing just 5 turnovers in the second half after piling up 12 by halftime.