Noah blocks Raptors' last gasp

TORONTO - Booed by his own fans Monday and benched for most of the fourth quarter Wednesday night, Bulls center Joakim Noah shook off recent setbacks to play perhaps the best defense of his career.

After a series of blunders in the final 30 seconds had the Bulls scrambling to protect a 2-point lead against Toronto with 12.7 seconds on the clock, the Raptors went straight to all-star Chris Bosh to get the tying bucket.

Bosh isolated Noah on the left wing, pulled back for a jumper and caught nothing but Noah's hand. Luol Deng grabbed the blocked shot and knocked down 2 free throws to seal the Bulls' 102-98 victory over Toronto at a tense Air Canada Centre.

"He pump-fakes a lot, and I didn't go for the first pump-fake," a smiling Noah said in the visitors' locker room. "The shot clock was going down. I knew he had to get it up, so I got my hand on it and got the block."

Said Bosh: "I made a mistake. Joakim Noah played good defense, and I need to keep my dribble going next time. You learn from it and keep going."

This may have been a battle of two teams currently out of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference, but the Bulls (17-22) showed some positive signs. The first was a season-high 33 assists and the second was Derrick Rose's brilliant fourth-quarter performance.

All Rose did in the final quarter was hit 8 of 9 shots for 17 points. He repeatedly drove to the rim and finished acrobatic shots, including 2 straight that kept the Bulls' lead at 4 with less than two minutes remaining.

"I just knew that me attacking the basket was going to free everything up," Rose said. "I got sick and tired of the coaches and my teammates telling me if I'm that close, just shoot the ball, and that's exactly what I was doing."

Rose finished with 25 points and 10 assists, while some of the veteran Bulls began to resemble their old selves. Not that long ago they would share the ball and play defense under pressure most every night.

"When we were playing well and we were a playoff team, that's what we did," Deng said. "We've got to get back to that somehow."

Deng finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Kirk Hinrich contributed 12 points and 6 assists. Both were playing their second game after coming back from injuries. Andres Nocioni scored 8 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter.

"I don't see why we can't keep playing this way," Hinrich said. "I think at this point of the season, we should realize we should play to our strengths. I think we're at our best when we're playing like that."

The Bulls played without center Drew Gooden, who suffered a groin strain during Monday's loss to Portland, and coach Vinny Del Negro didn't use any of his big men until sending in Noah and Tyrus Thomas for defense at the 1:15 mark.

Trailing by 3 points, the Bulls opened the fourth quarter with a 14-4 run using a small lineup.

Nocioni guarded Bosh (25 points) and Thabo Sefolosha was on 7-foot Andrea Bargnani, who scored a career-high 31 points. The strategy worked well enough as the Bulls trailed for just 23 seconds during the final 11 minutes.

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