Bulls just keep playing above it all

Now we know why the United Center really is called the Madhouse on Madison.

"Windy City turmoil," a Yahoo! Sports headline blared Tuesday.

Seriously, it's a tribute to the Bulls in short pants that they have kept their heads as their sometimes witless bosses in dress suits lost theirs.

Tuesday night was as good an example as any, as the Bulls beat Boston 101-93 to move 1 victory from clinching a playoff berth.

A controversy involving executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and head coach Vinny Del Negro didn't deter the Bulls against the Celtics.

"We deserve to not have those problems talked about right now," Bulls center Joakim Noah said.

The players have been through quite a bit this season, from the organization pointing toward next season, to a period when injuries decimated the roster, to Tyrus Thomas' mood swings before he was traded.

The only thing still to be determined could have been how many minutes after the final game before Del Negro is fired.

By the way, yes, of course he'll be fired as soon as the season ends. He was going to be fired regardless of the "Windy City turmoil" because Bulls management hasn't liked him almost from the day it improbably hired him.

Anyway, all those previous bumps this season seem like potholes compared to the "Windy City Turmoil" crater.

Consider this: It turns out that Noah, the flamboyant, free spirited, 6-foot-11 pile of passion is the grown-up while his management elders are the kindergarten kids.

According to Yahoo! and confirmed by independent sources, Paxson and Del Negro engaged in an altercation on March 30. Actually, it sounds like Paxson engaged in it and Del Negro did well to refrain from escalating it.

Supposedly after the Bulls lost to the Suns, Paxson raged into Del Negro's office, shoved the coach twice in the chest and had to be restrained.

There's no hiding it anymore: That cool Paxson guy who hit the shot that clinched the Bulls' 1993 championship can be a hothead.

The only surprise about the Yahoo! report was that Paxson and Del Negro were together in the same hemisphere, much less the same room, considering they haven't been on the same page for a while.

The dispute supposedly was over how many minutes in the Phoenix game Del Negro played Noah, who suffered from plantar fasciitis.

The confusion returned last week when frayed lines of communication over Noah's playing time contributed to a double-overtime loss at New Jersey.

Yet through it all the on-court Bulls stayed in playoff contention, then Derrick Rose scored 39 points to help beat the Celtics in this must-win game, and now they all can clinch an unlikely postseason berth tonight with a victory at Charlotte.

"We've battled a lot of adversity all season and showed a lot of character," Del Negro said of his players. "I give the guys a lot of credit."

Tuesday night in the Madhouse on Madison was just another battle survived.

mimrem@dailyherald.com