Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah turned his left ankle during the third quarter of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.
After Chicago's 79-74 loss, Noah was seen on crutches with a black aircast on his left ankle. He did not speak to reporters after the game.
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau was unsure of Noah's status for Sunday's Game 4, saying the team would have a better idea of where its starting center stood on Saturday.
Thibodeau wasn't letting his team use Noah's injury as an excuse.
"The thing is, injury is part of the game," Thibodeau said. "You have to have a mental toughness to get past all of that. We've had injuries all year and you just deal with it. If you look, you can find something every night, every game. Shorthanded, regular season, back to back, early start, whatever it is, or you can find a way to win. That's what you need. You need guys that have great will to win, and no matter what the circumstances are will find a way to win."Philadelphia fans, not always known for their stadium/arena decorum, cheered Noah's injury.
Very unfortunate reaction from the fans," ESPN announcer Mike Tirico said.
Some fans booed Noah as he walked to the bench. To be fair, some fans clapped, seeing Noah was able to walk to the bench on his own.
A great deal of respect to the Philadelphia fans who do stand up and acknowledge the injured player," Tirico said.
When fans watched the replay on the arena video board, there was an audible gasp from the crowd. It was a nasty turn of the ankle.
From that point on, the Sixers out-scored the Bulls 23-5, inexplicably led by an offensive explosion from Spencer Hawes – who finished with a game-high 21 points and 9 rebounds.
Use this as your celebration thread. I'll have a full recap up later.
Jrue and Evan showed up in "the clutch" once again.
No comments:
Post a Comment