Bulls, Bucks primed for opener
The Horns-Antlers rivalry heated up sooner than expected.
This was supposed to be a meaningless preseason finale between the Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks at the United Center.
Ex-Bulls coach Scott Skiles was in the house, and the teams were eagerly awaiting Tuesday's rematch for the regular season opener.
There were plenty of surprises, though. A first-quarter injury to Bulls rookie Derrick Rose may have helped precipitate a second-quarter scuffle. The Bucks also erased a 23-point deficit before the Bulls finished off a 112-104, overtime victory Friday.
The postgame report on Rose was a relief to the Bulls. He left the game with a right hip flexor strain but insisted the injury was minor and that he could have played in the second half.
"This is no big deal at all," Rose said in the locker room. "I could have played. I'm fine. It hurt at that moment, but I knew I still wanted to play. So of course I was trying to tell them I didn't need a sub, but they pulled me anyway."
At the 7:19 mark of the first quarter, Rose drove to the basket on a fastbreak and was fouled by Milwaukee's Richard Jefferson.
Rose fell awkwardly and stayed on the ground for a few moments, but he recovered to hit the 2 free throws and then canned a 17-footer on the Bulls' next possession before leaving the game.
"No sense taking a risk there," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "We got him some rest."
There was nothing dirty about the foul by Jefferson, but it wasn't a big surprise when Andres Nocioni returned the favor late in the second quarter.
This time Jefferson was headed toward the basket, and Nocioni delivered a hard chop across the arms. Jefferson took exception to the foul and gave Nocioni a light chest bump, causing Kirk Hinrich to counter with a two-hand shove to Jefferson's back. Bucks guard Luke Ridnour ran in and pushed Hinrich before order was restored.
Jefferson, Ridnour and Hinrich were all given technical fouls.
"I've never hurt anybody, never been accused of being dirty," Jefferson said. "Derrick Rose, I went up after the ball, he got fouled. I'm not trying to hurt the young fellow. I'd never disrespect anybody. But Nocioni, can you say the same thing about him?"
Hinrich had his best game of preseason, finishing with 25 points and 8 assists while hitting 7 of 10 shots from the field.
Thabo Sefolosha made his first start of preseason, played just short of 50 minutes and had a well-rounded game with 18 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds.
Nocioni, starting in place of Luol Deng (sore back and toe), scored 26.
The Bulls (4-4) dominated the game at the start, rolling to a 35-16 advantage at the end of the first quarter and pulling ahead by as many as 23. The Bucks (1-7) chipped away in the second half, eventually taking a 95-91 lead with 2:37 remaining in regulation.
Joakim Noah's tip-in tied the score with 41.6 seconds left, and Sefolosha barely missed a 16-footer at the buzzer.
In overtime, Nocioni buried a pair of 3-pointers early, and the Bulls never looked back.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=245456">Skiles: Bulls' Rose a star <span class="date">[10/24/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>