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All eyes (and ears) in the beginning were squarely focused on how the fans would react to the lineup announcements of Noah and Rose. Noah predictably got a thunderous roar from the Bulls’ faithful, but Rose got a much more mixed response than many expected. ESPN’s Jalen Rose pointed out at halftime that Rose said about a month ago he feels more love from Knicks fans than he ever felt from Bulls fans, so I guess I can sympathize with boos fueled by spiteful jealousy instead of ungrateful hatred. The Bulls also made a pretty wonderful tribute video to Rose and Noah:
Thanks for the memories, Derrick and Jo. #BullsNation pic.twitter.com/YEfQkBuuH8
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) November 5, 2016
Rose and Noah wound up having their best games as Knicks, each filling up the stat sheet. Rose shot 6-16 but had 15 pts, 11 assists, 7 rebs, and Noah accumulated 16 pts, 9 rebs, 4 assists and 3 steals.
At the end of the game with only FTs left to shoot, both were subbed out and enjoyed it.
Nice moment for Joakim and Derrick. pic.twitter.com/pRPbJzYDhN
— jon greenberg (@jon_greenberg) November 5, 2016
Noah on playing Bulls: "It was harder than I thought just in terms of trying to keep my emotions in check."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 5, 2016
Noah on time with Bulls: "There are no regrets. We gave everything we had for this city."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 5, 2016