Noah, Oden hardly strangers
Blazers center Greg Oden received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd at Portland's Rose Garden when he entered Wednesday's game at the 4:28 mark of the first quarter.
That may seem odd until realizing that it was Oden's regular-season home debut. The 7-footer missed all of his rookie year with a knee injury, sat out roughly two weeks early this month with a foot problem and saw action in five road games before facing the Bulls.
Oden might be a mystery to Portland fans, but not to Bulls center Joakim Noah. Those players matched up twice in college during the 2006-07 season. Noah actually went 2-0 against Oden's Ohio State squad, winning a nonconference skirmish in Gainesville, then the national championship game.
Noah used that familiarity to block 2 of Oden shot's in the second quarter of the Bulls' blowout loss. Oden eventually produced 11 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks, while Noah fouled out in 17 minutes of action.
"Greg Oden's a great player," Noah said after the game. "I really admired him in college and even what he's doing now. He's a class act off the court. He's somebody I have great respect for. I'm happy he's recovering and playing well, but not against us."
Deng expects quick return: Luol Deng felt confident his sore left hamstring was nothing serious, but wasn't sure if he'll be ready to play tonight against Golden State.
"I just have to test it out," he said. "I'm trying to be smart about it. It doesn't feel like it's a serious thing that will keep me out a long time."
Deng felt the injury occur during the morning shootout before facing the Lakers on Tuesday. Deng was able to play in that one, but not the following night in Portland.
"It just got tighter as the (Lakers) game went on," he said. "It just felt like if I played I might make it feel worse and be out even longer than I want to."
Warriors rookie a mystery: The Bulls will get a look at the NBA's hottest rookie tonight, and he's not named Beasley, Mayo or Lopez.
Undrafted Anthony Morrow, a 6-5 shooting guard from Georgia Tech, has scored 25 and 37 points for Golden State in the past two games, while shooting a robust 72 percent from the field (23-for-32) and 80 percent from the 3-point line (8-for-10).
Morrow didn't play at all in the Warriors' first five games, but was promoted to the starting lineup last week.
Bull horns: Aaron Gray, who started against Portland, ranks fifth in the league in rebounds per 40 minutes, trailing only Golden State's Andris Biedrins, Philadelphia's Reggie Evans, Orlando's Dwight Howard and Portland's Greg Oden. ... Blazers guard Steve Blake gushed blood from his head after being fouled by Ben Gordon in the fourth quarter. Blake struck a courtside camera when he fell to the ground and required three stitches.