Rose and Noah emerge victorious in Chicago return

This week has been full of NBA reunions, with Thursday night’s dramatic matchup between Kevin Durant’s Golden State Warriors and Russell Westbrook’s Oklahoma City Thunder standing as the clear headliner. By comparison, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah first visit to the Chicago Bulls as New York Knicks lacked an easy storyline. It was not clear if the home crowd would cheer or boo their former stars on Friday night, in part because it was time for both sides to cut ties but also because their legacies remain undecided.

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It should therefore not come as much of a surprise that reactions were mixed when were Rose and Noah announced in pregame introductions. Actually, that deserves some clarification — Noah received unreserved applause, while Chicago native Rose heard both cheers and jeers:

The reception for Noah was no surprise — he worked his tail off and played through injuries for nine seasons as the Bulls’ vocal leader. The Rose reaction is more interesting, because he remains a complicated figure after his incredible start to his career, all those injuries, his local hero status, preseason comments about the love he gets from Knicks fans, and the after-effects of his recent civil trial for the alleged gang-rape of an ex-girlfriend (in which he was found not liable on all counts).

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The game itself offered an opportunity to leave much of that history behind and focus on what these teams and players now offer on the court. A notable contingent of fans booed Rose when he touched the ball (especially early), and the Bulls showed a nice video honoring what both he and Noah accomplished during their time with the franchise. For the most part, though, this felt like a normal basketball game.

It happened to be a pretty good one for the Knicks, who took the fourth quarter 33-23 to turn a close contest into a 117-104 win. Rose overcame 6-of-16 shooting from the field to put up 15 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds, affecting the game in multiple ways after a rather ineffective first few games with New York. Noah was solid, as well, logging 16 points (7-of-11 FG), nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

Yet it was second-year big man Kristaps Porzingis who impressed most with a team-high 27 points (11-of-15 FG, 4-of-7 3FG). If nothing else, this game showed that the additions of Rose and Noah do not have to impede Porzingis’s development. These players can coexist together (and with Carmelo Anthony) as long as the Knicks value offensive balance.

The Bulls’ struggles were mostly limited to the defensive end, where they allowed 51.7 percent shooting to the visitors. Offensively, the big story was the continued three-point prowess of Dwyane Wade, who shot 12-of-20 from the field and 5-of-7 on threes for a season-high 35 points.

Remarkably, Wade now has 10 three-pointers in five games this season, three more than he converted during the entire 2015-16 regular season. It’s not clear if his excellent shooting form will persist throughout the year, but the mere threat of his outside shooting should help a Bulls offense that nearly all analysts thought would have major spacing issues.

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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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