The Bulls beat the Celtics in overtime on Friday, on the strength of a couple of big plays that went their way down the stretch of both regulation and the extra session.
Joakim Noah continued his All-Star caliber play, especially defensively where he was able to hold Kevin Garnett to just 5-16 shooting. He was asked afterward how he did it, and used the opportunity to let loose on Garnett’s style of play once again.
From Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago:"(I was) just playing defense,” Noah said. “Just playing sound defense, just contesting his shots, he’s a helluva competitor, he’s always on some bulls---. Always on some bulls---.”
Noah was asked for clarification of what Garnett was doing that upset him.
“Just trying to throw elbows,” Noah said of Garnett. “Cheap shots, just trying to get you off your game. But he’s a vet, he’s been doing this a long time but it’s all right.”
This isn’t a new opinion from Noah. He called Garnett a dirty player during the 2010 Eastern Conference playoffs, but unlike Carmelo Anthony of the Knicks, who let Garnett get to him a couple of weeks ago, Noah ignored the nonsense and simply played his game.
The Bulls and Celtics both play hard-nosed defensive basketball, so it isn’t a surprise that Noah and Garnett had multiple run-ins throughout the course of the night. Let’s just hope we see these two teams go head to head in the postseason for a seven-game series.
