Noah thinks it's nice to be getting away from the ice

The three years Joakim Noah spent in Gainesville, Fla., obviously trumps the nearly three years he has lived in Chicago.

To some, the upcoming seven-game "ice show" road trip represents the Bulls' quest to continue momentum they've built by winning eight of the last 11 games. To Noah, it's about escaping the ice.

"I think everyone's excited about going somewhere warm, because it's really cold here," Noah said after the Bulls' double overtime win over Washington on Friday. "It's unbearable, almost."

With the possible exception of Oklahoma City, the Bulls will spend the next two weeks in warmer weather. The journey begins Monday with a Martin Luther King Day matinee against Golden State, followed by the Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix, Houston, San Antonio, Oklahoma City and New Orleans.

The improving Bulls still are just 4-13 on the road, even after winning Thursday in Boston.

"We're starting to feel better about ourselves and we're starting to play better," forward Luol Deng said. "We haven't done well in the past on the West Coast. We've got to challenge ourselves and try to get some wins out there."

One thing that might help is more performances like the one Derrick Rose turned in against the Wizards.

The second-year guard posted a career-high 37 points and knocked down the first true game-winning shot of his pro career. He dropped in a one-handed jumper in the lane with 5.4 seconds left after putting a dizzying spin move on Washington guard Randy Foye.

"I've been doing that move since college," Rose said. "If they play me a certain way, I've got to spin and I got a nice little floater. The only thing I'll say (about the road trip) is we have to play defense and rebound. We're looking forward to it."

Fighting fatigue: Considering the Bulls started the night 1-7 in the second leg of back-to-back games, beating Washington might have been a breakthrough.

They won after pulling out a big victory in Boston the previous night against a rested Wizards team and endured two overtimes.

"I felt really tired in the fourth quarter and overtime," forward Luol Deng said.

"I thought (Thursday) night's game took a lot out of us."

"I don't think the people in the seats understand what back-to-backs really are," center Joakim Noah said. "Of course, everybody in the NBA has to do it, but it definitely takes a toll on your body. I had nothing left in the tank."

Derrick Rose, who played 50 minutes against Washington, claimed to be fresh, since he spent the early part of the Boston game in foul trouble.

Short-handed state: Golden State, which hosts the Bulls on Monday, finished Friday's home loss to Milwaukee with just four eligible players.

They started the game with eight as Vladimir Radamovic, Anthony Randolph, C.J. Watson and Ronny Turiaf were sidelined with injuries. Then guard Anthony Morrow suffered a knee sprain and had to leave, shortening the rotation to seven.

Andris Biedrins and Chris Hunter fouled out, then rookie guard Stephen Curry picked up his sixth foul with three seconds left but had to stay in the game because of a rarely invoked rule requiring teams to always have five players on the floor.

Curry and Monta Ellis both played the entire 48 minutes, and Curry scored the final basket of the game after he already had fouled out.

Quotes to note: Bulls guard Derrick Rose on how he and coach Vinny Del Negro settle on which plays to run: "We ask each other when we talk on the sideline. When he calls for a play, we run it. When I call for a play, we run it. If we ever have an argument about a play, he usually lets me take it because he knows that I should be the leader of the team."

Joakim Noah on having to guard massive Washington center Brendan Haywood for 43 minutes Friday: "He's definitely heavy. He's always leaning and putting a body on you. At the beginning of the game, he was a nice guy, but at the end, there was nothing nice about him."