Bulls' victory may have come with a price

Bulls center Joakim Noah sat at his locker and laced up a sneaker. Then he fastened the Velcro straps on his walking boot and wished teammate Luol Deng good luck at Indiana on Saturday.

Without a doubt, Noah's defense and energy around the basket turned the game around Friday when the Bulls rallied to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 115-111 in overtime at the United Center. But did it come with a price?

In the previous three games, Noah played a combined 26 minutes as he attempted to play through painful plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Against the Blazers, he logged 27 minutes, producing 11 rebounds, 8 points and 4 assists.

After the game, though, coach Vinny Del Negro admitted he might have gotten a little greedy with Noah's minutes.

"Plantar fasciitis just hurts," Noah said. "The only thing you can do is just rest it. There's not a lot of time before playoffs. So what do you do? Do you sit and then when you come back, lack conditioning? The first two games I felt like I can't breathe out there. You can emphasize all the biking and all the water cardio things. But to me, the only way I get my cardio back is playing basketball."

While he was on the floor, Noah's defense helped take Portland forward LaMarcus Aldridge out of the game. Midway through the third quarter, Aldridge was 12-for-15 from the field for 26 points, working mostly against Brad Miller.

During the next 20 minutes, Aldridge scored 2 points and that basket came when Noah left to help on someone else, giving Aldridge an open jumper. Aldridge added a dunk and tip-in late in overtime to finish with 32 points.

"I don't think there's a right or wrong answer," Noah added. "Obviously, if it was October or November, I would probably sit out for six weeks. But we don't have six weeks."

The Bulls (31-27) made a couple of nice comebacks after trailing by 9 late in the third quarter and facing a 95-90 deficit with 5:56 left in the fourth.

But they also botched several chances to put the game away. They couldn't convert a 2-on-1 fast break with a 3-point lead and a minute left in regulation. They were up by 5 with a minute left in overtime, but gave Portland a chance to take the lead after Noah and Deng combined to miss 3 free throws.

There was finally relief when Brandon Roy's potential go-ahead 3-pointer clanged off the front rim and led to a breakaway dunk by Deng with 1.4 seconds left.

With the score tied at the end of regulation, Derrick Rose blew past Aldridge, drew heavy contact and tossed the ball high off the backboard. When the ball landed on the rim, it settled, rolled slowly across the iron and fell off as the horn sounded. No basket, no foul and the teams went to overtime.

"I thought it was definitely in," Rose said. "Right after I saw that it hit backboard, I'm like, 'That's game.' Then I saw it coming out and I'm like, 'We've got to go to overtime?' That's something I didn't want to do against this team, but we pulled it out."

Rose scored an impressive 33 points, hitting 15 of 25 shots. He didn't take a shot in overtime, though, as Portland worked overtime to get the ball out of his hands.

The other Bulls moved it around well in the extra session. Deng (23 points) knocked down a pair of jumpers, Kirk Hinrich dribbled past Aldridge and Marcus Camby for a reverse lay in and Taj Gibson finished a lay in off a pass from Noah.

This was Noah's fourth game back after sitting out seven to rest a sore left foot. He played no more than 12 minutes in the previous three contests.

The Bulls shot 57.5 percent from the field as a team and held a gaping 43-29 rebounding advantage.

<p class="factboxheadblack">Mike McGraw's game tracker</p>

<p class="News">Bulls 115, Trail Blazers 111 (OT)</p>

<p class="News"><b>Deng dunks it:</b> This was a nice crunch-time performance by the Bulls until they nearly gave it away several times down the stretch. The victory was finally sealed when Luol Deng got a hand up on Brandon Roy's potential go-ahead 3-pointer, then converted a fastbreak dunk off the long rebound with 1.4 seconds remaining.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Rose's garden:</b> Derrick Rose scored a spectacular 33 points, hitting 15 of 25 shots from the field. He could have won it in the fourth quarter, but his driving layup against LaMarcus Aldridge hit the rim, settled and somehow rolled off at the buzzer. Luol Deng added 23 for the Bulls, who are 6-1 since the all-star break.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Noah gives it all:</b> Coach Vinny Del Negro admitted he might have gotten greedy by playing center Joakim Noah 27 minutes. But Noah, hobbled by plantar fasciitis in his left foot, was vital to the win. He's planning to skip today's game at Indiana.</p>

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<li><a href="/story/?id=362388">Rose not sure when he'll begin voicing opinion to management<span class="date"> [2/27/10]</span></a></li>

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<p class="factboxheadblack">Bulls game day</p>

<p class="News">Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse, 6 p.m.</p>

<p class="News"><b>TV:</b> Channel 9</p>

<p class="News"><b>Radio:</b> WMVP 1000-AM</p>

<p class="News"><b>Update:</b> The Bulls are 3-0 against the Pacers this season and have a chance to complete their first season sweep since 1996-97. After losing their first 12 games at Conseco Fieldhouse, the Bulls have gone a more respectable 4-5 in the last nine trips, including a 109-101 victory on Feb. 8. Indiana hasn't been able to stop Derrick Rose, who is averaging 24 points, 7 assists and shooting 53 percent against it this season. Pacers forward Danny Granger missed one game against the Bulls and averaged 23.5 points in the last two. Indiana (19-39) hasn't played since losing at home to Milwaukee on Thursday.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Next:</b> Monday vs. Atlanta Hawks at the United Center, 7 p.m.</p>