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Bulls’ Robinson channels his inner Peter Pan

Nate Robinson was in the starting lineup when the Bulls hosted Boston on Nov. 12 and had a rough night against Celtics guard Rajon Rondo.

The Bulls fell behind in that game and made a futile comeback with rookie Marquis Teague running the point.

So with Kirk Hinrich healthy and ready to start when the Celtics returned to town Tuesday, it made sense to wonder how much Robinson would even play.

As it turned out, he was one of the stars of the game. Robinson hit 5 of 7 shots from 3-point range and scored 18 points as the Bulls won easily.

“Last couple of games, I really haven’t been shooting the ball well, so I told myself I have to go back to my whole Peter Pan theory: You can’t fly without happy thoughts,” Robinson said after the game. “So I just had to find that little niche and continue to be happy and play the game the way I know how — and that’s just free and being myself and I did that tonight.”

Teague has played well every time he’s gotten a chance, but it’s tough to keep Robinson off the floor because he’s the one guy on the bench who is capable of being an explosive scorer.

Noah puts fingers away:He probably should have thought of this sooner, but Bulls center Joakim Noah has decided to end his mock gun-firing routine in the wake of the Connecticut school shootings.The past two seasons, Noah has celebrated made jump shots by firing his fingers in the air, then slamming them into an imaginary holster. The tradition was probably meant as a response to those who have criticized Noah#146;s sideways-spinning jumpers, suggesting he#146;ll never be an accurate shooter.On his Twitter account, Noah sent a message last week, #147;There needs to be some kind of gun control for real.#148;He#146;s also retweeted pro gun-control messages from filmmaker Michael Moore and actor Jim Carrey.Noah reveals role model:Based on his 10-asssist game Tuesday against Boston, Joakim Noah picked a good role model when he was younger.#147;I#146;d say Vlade Divac,#148; Noah said. #147;I used to love watching Vlade play in Sacramento.#148;Divac was a multidimensional center who once averaged 5.3 assists in a season. His career-assist average was 3.1 per game. Noah is currently at 4.3 this season.#147;I feel like Thibs is comfortable with me playing at the elbow,#148; Noah said. #147;We#146;ve been doing a lot more of that than in the past. I#146;m comfortable operating from that position.#148;Celtics keep skidding:Celtics coach Doc Rivers didn#146;t speak highly of his team after losing to the Bulls on Tuesday. Boston has dropped three in a row to fall to 12-12 on the season.#147;Right now, we#146;re not a good team,#148; he said. #147;We#146;re going to find it, but we#146;re not right now. We#146;re going to keep searching for it.#147;Half their baskets on offense were because they cut harder and they fought for it. I thought they were clearly the tougher team tonight, the more physical team. It was not even close. I thought throughout, they were the more physical team.#148;

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