Monday morning, the NBA fined Joakim Noah $50,000 for “using a derogatory and offensive term” toward a fan from the bench during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals Sunday night.

Some people are probably thinking, “Was Noah’s punishment just?”

Well, here’s my take.

For those of you that think Noah should’ve been suspended, please rethink that possibility. Kobe Bryant was in heat for a gay slur toward a referee after Bryant was issued a technical during a game against the San Antonio Spurs in April. Bryant was fined $100,000 and was NOT suspended.

In Noah’s case, he was provoked by the ‘fan.’ I’m not saying it’s ok to disrespect anyway with an anti-gay slur, but just to see it from the other side. There are shades of gray in this situation.

Noah apologized immediately and realized his mistake. Even though he will be judged because of this, the point is that he understood that his choice of words was wrong and that his emotions got the best of him.

“I just want to apologize; I had just picked up my second foul. I was frustrated. He said something that was disrespectful toward me, and I lost my cool. People who know me know I’m an open-minded guy. I’m not here to hurt anybody’s feelings. I’m just here to help win a basketball game. Sometimes fans say things that are overboard. But it’s on us not to react. If you react, they win. And I did. It was a bad decision on my part.” – Joakim Noah’s apology and explaination

Several of Noah’s teammates have said that the fan used profanity regarding Noah’s mother among other insults. And his teammates defended Noah without hesitation.

“What Jo said is something out of frustration; he has to do a better job of controlling his emotion. But that fan should have been thrown out of the game way before. He just kept going at him and in an emotional game like that, and things not going Jo’s way, it’s just human nature to react. I know Jo, and I know he didn’t mean what he said at all.” – Luol Deng defending teammate Joakim Noah  

Bryant’s fine was larger because it also “included discipline of a game official.”

This has been handled and the case should be closed. Both sides were wrong and Noah is paying the price. He understands that he went about it the wrong way, but what’s done is done. The media should’ve looked at it from both sides instead of just assuming that Noah was some kind of monster. The Bulls still have a series to play against Miami and can’t afford to lose any focus. This is basketball. This is the Playoffs.

Sunday night was not a pretty sight for the Chicago Bulls during Game Three’s 96-85 loss in Miami. They were physically and emotionally drained.

The last time the Bulls lost consecutive games was during February 5-7.

This wasn’t just any loss. Chicago fans witnessed the quicksand that the Bulls were trapped in.

Despite Miami’s 7-0 run with 3:56 remaining in the third, the Bulls continued to fight back and keep it within three at the end of the quarter thanks to back-to-back three pointers by Luol Deng. Deng scored six of his 14 points in the third to go along with his eight rebounds.

However, the Bulls failed to continue their run in the fourth quarter, in which the Heat out-scored the Bulls 28-20. Six Heat points were scored off four Bulls turnovers in the fourth. Chris Bosh scored eight straight for the Heat, extending their lead, 78-72. Bosh led with 34 points, on a 13-for-18 shooting, and five rebounds.

LeBron James posted 22 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. Dwyane Wade chipped in 17 points and nine rebounds. Meanwhile, the Heat held the Bulls big three (Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng) under 50% shooting. The Bulls did hold Miami’s James and Wade to a 12-of-30 shooting on the floor.

Even though the Bulls out-rebounded the Heat 41-32 and attempted 10 more field goals, they were missing their perimeter shots and layups. Chicago only shot 42% on the floor and 42% from behind the arc.

Carlos Boozer led the Bulls with 26 points and 17 rebounds, Joakim Noah wasn’t a factor in points, but he dished out six assists (leading the team) and grabbed five boards.

Derrick Rose had 20 points, five assists and five rebounds. Rose went eight-for-19 on the floor but missed his perimeter shots as well and calls weren’t going his way (like usual) either.

My X-Factor (for Game 3), Kyle Korver, went one-for-two (a three ball), but Miami’s defense blocked him out and wouldn’t allow him an open shot. Taj Gibson scored 11 points in 12 minutes. Nine of his points came in the fourth quarter.

Game 4 will be in Miami Tuesday Night. Miami now leads the series 2-1.

Bulls Extras: Speaking of EMOTIONAL issues, in the first quarter, Joakim Noah approached the bench after picking up his second foul with over four minutes into the game and the camera caught JoNo direct a profane word toward a fan in the stands, it was thought to be an anti-gay slur and Noah apologized immediately for his actions…

On Wednesday night, LeBron James and the Miami Heat proved to the Chicago Bulls that what happened in the regular season will not happen in the Eastern Conference Finals. No sweep this time around. They will take the 85-75 victory and the tied series (1-1) and move on to Game 3 in Miami this Sunday.

After being held to 15 points on a five-for-15 shooting, James led the way with 29 points (12-21 FG), 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals (along with five turnovers) in 45 minutes of play.

After the Bulls erased an 11-point Heat lead in the third and tied the game at 73 with 7:16 remaining in regulation, James scored nine of the last 12 (Heat) points while the Bulls went cold on a one-for-11 shooting.

Derrick Rose was held to 21 points (two points in the fourth quarter) on a seven-for-23 shooting. Rose was shut out inside leaving him to fend for jumpers that just weren’t falling in.

“I missed a lot of shots. It was just one of those nights.” – Rose on his 7-for-23 shooting on the floor

I will not doubt Rose when he has the ball, everyone has a bad shooting night, it’s better to take the shot and miss than to not take it at all.

As a team, the Bull had an overall bad shooting night, something that has been an issue most of the playoff series. They shot only 34% on the floor, and missed valuable free throws (16-26; 62%). They also relied too much on the three ball, making three-of-20.

Taj Gibson led the Bench Mob with eight points (all in the fourth) and three blocks. Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer were both quiet and combined for 16 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks. Luol Deng posted 13 points (four in the first quarter) and five rebounds.

Even though the Bulls took better care of the ball, turning the ball over 10 times to Miami’s 15, they were out-rebounded 45-41 and Miami shot 47% on the floor (hitting 50% at one point).

It also didn’t help when the Bulls came out at the start of the game cold, shooting zero-for-nine on the field.

Udonis Haslem returned for the Heat and chipped in 13 points and five rebounds off the bench. Dwyane Wade went eight-for-16 for 24 points and nine rebounds. After coming off a 30-point performance in Game 1, Chris Bosh scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Game two’s performance by the Bulls was the opposite of game one’s. They lacked intensity on both ends of the court and no one led the offense, especially on the bench. Kyle Korver provided another hesitant shooting performance, going one-for-seven in 17 minutes.

“We played a low-energy offense, a low-energy defense and the result was not good.” – Bulls Head Coach Tom Thibodeau

Bulls Extras/Preview of Sunday’s Game: The Bulls will look to bounce back in Miami for game three on Sunday night…After each of their three previous playoff losses, the Bulls have won the following game by double-digits…The Bulls haven’t lost consecutive games since February 5-7…Kyle Korver, please don’t forget to pack the HOTSAUCE! <- He will be my X-Factor for Game Three…

The Chicago Bulls started their playoff series against the Miami Heat the same way they left it in the regular season: With a win. The Bulls defense and electrifying playmaking put them ahead in the series 1-0 with a 103-82 win at the United Center Sunday night.

The Bulls out-rebounded the Heat 45-33, including a 19-6 advantage on the offensive boards.

On back-to-back plays in the second quarter, Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer each crashed the offensive boards and got buckets out of both possessions, giving Chicago a 44-42 lead with 2:07 remaining in the half. Chicago and Miami were tied at 48 at halftime.

10:48 left in the second, Taj Gibson blocked Mario Chalmers’ shot to Luol Deng, CJ Watson ran the fast break, and fed Gibson trailing who put Dwayne Wade on a poster. He had another insane dunk off an offensive board with :38 left in regulation to give the Bulls their 103-80 lead.

“Did you see the dunks that (Gibson) had? That inspired us. I wish I was 22 (years old) again. I felt that, when he did it, we all did it, you know?” – Boozer on Gibson’s performance

Noah put up nine points, 14 rebounds (eight offensive), four assists, two blocks and two steals. Boozer had 14 points and nine rebounds.

Once the third quarter began, the Bulls exploded. With 7:08 remaining, Rose and Bogans hit back-to-back three pointers, sparking a 10-0 run and a 67-58 lead in 3:25. The Bulls out-scored the Heat 24-15 in the third quarter, forcing them into four turnovers and two blocked shots.

Rose finished with 28 points and six assists.

Chicago continued stampeding over the Heats in the fourth. Four minutes into the quarter, CJ Watson rebounded his own miss and drained a three from the left wing, extending their lead to 17, 83-66.

Deng was focused with defending LeBron James but also scored 21 points and grabbed seven boards and had four steals.

James and Wade combined for 33 points, 12-for-32 shooting, and eight turnovers. Chris Bosh led with 30 points and nine rebounds. Miami totaled 16 turnovers, while the Bulls did a better job of taking care of the ball, only turning it over 10 times.

Bulls Bench Mob also kept a good momentum against the Heat starters. They also out-scored their bench 23-15. Gibson led with nine points, seven rebounds (three offensive) and two blocks. Brewer put up eight points and three rebounds and Watson dished out seven assists.

The Bulls shot 43% on the floor compared to the Heat’s 47%, however, the Bulls hit 10-of-21 three pointers (48%), while the Heat only hit three-of-eight (38%).

Bulls Extras: The Bulls will host the Heat for game two of this series Wednesday night…Bulls shot more field goals (due to crashing the boards), 38-for-87 against the Heat’s 32-for-68…

The Chicago Bulls haven’t been to the Eastern Conference Finals since 1998, A.K.A. the Jordan Era. On Thursday night in Atlanta the Bulls started strong and finished with a 93-73 win and four-to-two series close.

Carlos Boozer stepped up big in this game. He posted 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in 34 minutes. Since he’s been struggling with foul trouble and turnovers, he only turned the ball over once and collected two fouls. If he can keep up this play in the Miami series, the Bulls should have no issue concerning the offense or if Derrick Rose will be enough.

Speaking of our MVP, Rose had a quiet shooting night, but consistent. He’s averaged 29.8 points per game in the playoffs and scored only 19 points (eight-for-14 on the floor) and dished out 12 assists.

The Bulls went five-for-six within the first three and half minutes of the game, leading 11-4. Boozer scored seven of those 11 points. 

The Bulls made the extra pass, on almost every field goal made. Out of 41 baskets, the Bulls assisted each other on 34 of them. Talk about sharing the ball and team work!

In the first two minutes of the third quarter, Joakim Noah blocked and rebounded a Joe Johnson jump shot and Keith Bogans found Rose on the other end for the two-handed slam, making it a 52-37 Bulls lead.

Noah finished with 11 points (five-for-seven shooting), six rebounds and three blocks. Luol Deng had 13 points, five assists, five rebounds and five steals, yes, steals.

After Boozer missed a jumper, Omer Asik came away with the offensive board which led to a play where Bogans drove in, back passed to Boozer inside the paint, who found Asik wide open for the dunk and one with 1:52 remaining in the third quarter, extending the Bulls lead to 17, 68-51.

Asik, playing 20 early minutes, scored five points respectively, grabbed three rebounds and blocked two shots as well. Taj Gibson also came off the bench, he scored 10 points in 13 minutes. Kyle Korver, who had a not-so-hot (sauce) shooting night in game five, chipped in seven points (three-for-seven on the floor; one-for-three behind the arc) for the Bench Mob.

Atlanta had a scare in the second quarter when Jeff Teague, starting in place of injured point guard Kirk Hinrich, took a hard fall and headed into the locker room. He returned with taped wrists (sprain) and continued to play. He was not a big factor as he scored four points (two-for-six) and had two assists in 22 minutes.

Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 19 points and Josh Smith had 18 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

The Bulls next challenge will be Sunday night vs. the Miami Heat; Chicago has home-court advantage. The Heat beat the Boston Celtics in five games and the Bulls are considered the underdogs. Chicago has swept Miami in the regular season, 3-0.

“It’s going to be a great matchup; we’re fine with being considered the underdog.” – Rose on Miami Heat series coming up

Bulls Extras: Chicago’s defense held Atlanta to a 37% shooting on the floor…The three-ball wasn’t an option for any team tonight, the Hawks went one-for-11 (nine percent) and the Bulls went three-for-13 (23%). The Bulls shot 53% on the floor…

After the Chicago Bulls’ defense suffered in Game Four, but came back more fresh than ever in Game Five at the United Center on Tuesday night. It also helped to have someone other than Derrick Rose ignite the offense for the Bulls. All the pieces fell into place when the Bulls came out with the 95-83 win and 3-2 series lead.

Rose led all scorers with 33 points (11-for-24 on the floor) and nine assists. Injured forward Carlos Boozer kept it consistent with 11 points and 12 rebounds (one foul in 30 minutes).  Luol Deng chipped in 23 points. Deng scored 15 of his 23 in the first half, seven of which came within the first three minutes of the game, giving the Bulls a 7-2 lead.

Atlanta came back after trailing by 15 at one point. Josh Smith gave the Hawks their first lead of the game in the final two minutes of the third quarter with a jumper making it 64-63. However, Rose, Deng and Taj Gibson sparked a 9-0 run and immediately took back control of the game. Gibson scored all 11 of his points in that quarter (five-for-five), and even though he only had two rebounds and three assists, he made a difference on defense.

                “Taj, he doesn’t know how good he is right now.” – Rose on Taj Gibson

Coach Thibodeau stuck with Deng, Gibson, Omer Asik, Ronnie Brewer, and Rose through most of the fourth quarter. They outscored the Hawks 26-15 in the fourth and held them to just 29% on the floor.

Asik played 20 minutes and grabbed four rebounds. He also made his presence on defense known. At the 8:46 mark in the fourth, he and Brewer double-teamed Al Horford and forced him to turn the ball over, which led to Rose driving the other end for a layup and the 78-70 lead.

Keith Bogans also scored 11 points, eight of his came in the first as well.

Jeff Teague scored 21 points and dished out seven assists for the Hawks. The Hawks went one-for-12 from behind the arc and shot 47.9% on the floor. Jamal Crawford was held to two points on a one-of-nine shooting.

Zaza Pachulia led the team in scoring in most of the first half. He finished with 13 points.

Smith scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Horford scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Joe Johnson chipped in 15 points.

Bulls Extras: Joakim Noah played 27 minutes but scored zero points…Kyle Korver, who struggled this series, 9-30 on the floor (7-18 behind the arc), played four minutes and didn’t attempt any shots…Bulls General Manager Gar Forman was named co-recipient of 2010-11 NBA Executive of the Year award…Game six will be Thursday night at 7pm in Atlanta…

The Chicago Bulls dropped Game Four in Atlanta 100-88 Sunday night to even up the series at two apiece.  A few things factored into 12-point loss: defense, could be the main one.

The defense wasn’t as tight and that led to the Hawks shooting 13-24 in the first quarter.

The Bulls allowed the Hawks to shoot 49.4% on the floor, while five players went into double figures. The Bulls have also been out-rebounding the Hawks 10-plus, but managed to out-rebound Atlanta 37-36 Sunday night.

Meanwhile, the Bulls weren’t so hot on offense; they actually maintained a lead shooting 39% but finished the night at 41%. The Bulls were three-for-16 from downtown (18.8%) while the Bench Mob was outscored again 17-15, including a 0-5 performance behind the arc from sharp-shooter Kyle Korver.

Derrick Rose led the way with 34 points, on a 12-for-32 shooting, and 10 assists, but turned the ball over three times (all in the fourth quarter). Carlos Boozer, who is nursing two torn ligaments in his big toe, posted 18 point and six rebounds.

Another key stat for the Bulls was the “Cleanup Crew” (which I dubbed for the big men on the Bulls, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, with cameo appearances by Boozer, Luol Deng and Omer Asik, who grab the offensive boards and normally convert them into valuable points). Noah finished with 11 rebounds (four offensive) and six points, Gibson had no rebounds in 13 minutes and nine points and four blocks. Omer Asik earned some early playing time and had eight rebounds (three offensive), two blocks and three points.

Deng chipped in 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

The final two and a half minutes of the game played a big part in the loss as well. Atlanta led 90-84, Rose put up a three as Jamal Crawford clearly made body contact, the ref, however, called jump ball. Crawford made no contact with the ball once-so-ever. The call stood, the Hawks (Jeff Teague) gained possession and Josh Smith found Al Horford for the wide open dunk inside extending the Hawk’s lead to eight with 1:26 remaining. If Rose were to make three free throws instead, the momentum could’ve gone the other way. However, the Bulls’ defense suffered tonight, especially inside the paint, where the Hawks out-scored the Bulls 56-40.

Bennett Salvatore admitted his mistake on the whistle after he reviewed the play after the game:

“I blew my whistle and didn’t mean to. I didn’t think it was a foul. Having watched the replay after the game, it was a foul and I should have called it. I made a mistake. I was wrong.”

Joe Johnson led the way for the Hawks with 24 points (nine-for-14 FG, three-for-five 3PT) and five assists. Smith had 23 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists in 44 minutes. Horford chipped in 20 points and five rebounds and Crawford came off the bench with 12 points.

Teague had 12 points on the night, going six-for-12, has been shooting 52% in this series after just playing nine minutes total in the first round against Orlando.

Bulls Extras: The Bulls will return home to the United Center for Game Five at 7pm…

The Chicago Bulls came prepared in their 99-82 win over the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena Friday night. MVP Derrick Rose scored a career-high 44 points to helps the Bulls take a 2-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference. That included 16-27 on the floor and four-for-seven from downtown. He dished out seven assists and grabbed five boards.

With 3:20 remaining in the first quarter, Rose crossed over Jeff Teague and drove past every defender to finish strong at the basket, giving the Bulls a 26-18 lead. Rose scored 17 of his 44 points in that first quarter.

“Derrick was in attack mode, obviously. He was attacking from the start. When he’s attacking, and not dancing with the ball, he’s impossible to stop. He caught it on the run and kept going…he wasn’t playing around or letting them catch up.” – Bulls’ Head Coach Tom Thibodeau on Rose’s game tempo

Joakim Noah added 15 rebounds (eight offensive) and five blocks and Taj Gibson came off the bench with 13 points, 11 rebounds (seven offensive) and two blocks.

The Bench Mob really stepped up in game three by out-scoring the Hawks bench 34-14 (21-6 in the first half). CJ Watson, Ronnie Brewer, Gibson, Kyle Korver and Omer Asik worked to go on a 13-6 run in the second quarter, stretching the Bulls lead 42-29 with 6:58 remaining in the half. Korver added 11 points off the bench, and had a better shooting night then he did in game two, three-for-four from behind the arc.

The Bulls dominating the glass played a big part in tonight’s win, they out-rebounded the Hawks 47-34, including 18-9 offensively.

Teague, starting in place of injured teammate Kirk Hinrich, clocked in 41 minutes and scored 21 points, 8-13. Josh Smith scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Jamal Crawford was almost non-existent, scoring seven points in 28 minutes.

Chicago shot 46.8% on the floor and 50% from downtown (10-20), while holding Atlanta to 47.1% on the floor and 16.7% behind the arc (one-for-six). Both teams turned the ball over 12 times.

If the Bulls keep hustling, playing aggressive on defense, while being patient on shot selection and just be athletic going to the rim in future games, they will be unstoppaBULL.

Bulls Extras: Game four will be in Atlanta on Sunday night at 7pm…The Bulls played 48 minutes of intensity, they led this whole game from start to finish…

The Chicago Bulls showed signs of life on Wednesday night when they hosted the Atlanta Hawks for game two of the second round.

Tonight was also the night NBA Commissioner David Stern and Derrick Rose presented the MVP trophy to the United Center.

In game one, the Bulls let the Hawks shoot 51% on the floor. Tonight, the Hawks shot 34% on the floor and 23% from downtown. The Bulls shot 39% on the floor in their first win of the series, 86-73.

Our MVP put up 25 points on a not-so-great shooting night (he went 10-for-27 on the floor) while turning the ball over eight times. Rose is a fighter; he had turned his left ankle again in the final seconds of game one and still entered the gym like any other day.

It could also be because Kirk Hinrich fill-in Jeff Teague played about 40 minutes of ‘Keep up with Rose,’ while scoring 21 points (seven-for-14 on the floor). Teague has held Rose to 21-54 shots on the floor in the series so far. Teague only played nine minutes total in the previous series.

“Shots I normally hit, they weren’t falling tonight. But the way they are playing me, I’m going to keep shooting.” – Rose on his shooting this series

Rose isn’t the only one playing hurt. Carlos Boozer’s game has suffered because of a turf toe injury but still managed to grab 11 boards and score eight points, he only had one turnover tonight.

However, the fans at the UC turned some boos toward Boozy’s way.

Teammate Joakim Noah remembers being in that same situation not too long ago and stuck up for his friend.

“Sometimes our home crowd, it’s a tough place to play, we have a lot of love for our crowd, but through tough times, we got to stick together.” – Noah

Noah scored 19 points (six-for-eight shooting), grabbed 14 rebounds (seven offensive), three steals and a block. Luol Deng scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

While the Bench Mob didn’t produce a lot of offense (14 points), they made a difference on the court, off the stat sheet. They played gritty defense and hustled for loose balls. Kyle Korver went zero-for-four behind the arc until he hit a key three-pointer at the 24-second buzzer to give the Bulls a 70-60 lead with 9:12 remaining (his only shot of the night).

One other thing that has made a big difference is the start the Bulls had this evening. They came out strong on offense, taking an early first quarter lead 25-19, including a 9-4 run giving them the 13-11 lead.

At the end of the first quarter, the Bulls shot 39% and forced the Hawks 0-3 from behind the arc.

The tempo of the game is really important, and by starting the game strong on offense, and playing aggressive on defense, the Bulls will find their comfort spot again. The Bulls as a team have stepped up on the boards alone: Noah 14, Boozer 11, Deng 12, Rose 6, Taj Gibson 5. By halftime, the Bulls out-rebounded the Hawks 29-19 and at the end of the game, 58-39.

Another factor was the defense. They definitely tamed Jamal Crawford, who scored 22 points in game one; he finished with 11 points (two-for-10 on the floor). Joe Johnson scored 16 points and Josh Smith was forced into early foul trouble, he went four-for-14 on the floor for 13 points and six rebounds. Al Horford grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out six assists.

Bulls Extras: The series is now tied at 1-1…The Bulls will head out to Atlanta for games three (Sunday) and four (Tuesday).

Adidas has launched a special commercial to commemorate Derrick Rose being the youngest recipient of the NBA’s MVP award.