The Chicago Bulls are frustrated. Injuries are mounting up and the team has struggled to pick up the pieces and gain some momentum. That became ever more clear on Thursday night after the Bulls fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Joakim Noah lost his cool.
Following the 107-95 loss, former Bulls star Thabo Sefolosha walked into the Chicago locker room to talk with Noah and some of the other coaching officials on the team. When the exchanges were over, Sefolosha brought Noah back into the Thunder locker room as reporters waited to talk with the team. Apparently, Kendrick Perkins was not thrilled by the move and lashed out at Noah, chasing him out of the locker.
According to The Oklahoman, Perkins instigated the fight as Noah was simply just trying to say hello to a few players. He operates under the Kevin Garnett philosophy of hating the opponent 24/7 during the season. So much for old friends. Bulls' security stepped in and escorted Noah to the team bus after the incident.
Noah did his best to carry the injury plagued Bulls, but it simply was not enough. He put up 23 points and 12 rebounds as Taj Gibson added another 16. It did not help that Carlos Boozer was off the entire night. He shot just 2-for-7 form the field, while failing to make an impact on defense. Chicago was of course without Derrick Rose, but they were also missing Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler in the game. The Thunder took advantage of the depleted lineup. At one point the team went on a 13-4 run and never looked back.
"I thought we still had a shot in the second half," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "I thought we were within striking distance, but we couldn't get the key stops when we needed them. ... You've got to give them credit."
The bulls are unsure when players will start getting healthy again. Deng is expected back the soonest, but even he is unsure when his troublesome Achilles will be healthy again. He has missed the past four games due to the nagging injury and has been seen in a walking boot. Thibodeau remains confident that the team can start putting some of these frustrations behind them and come together as a team.