Ailing Nocioni just sick vs. Sixers
Forward fights off flu bug to score game-high 27
January 12, 2008
BY BRIAN HANLEY
PHILADELPHIA -- When Andres Nocioni launched the Bulls' first shot, a 15-footer which hit the side of the backboard, there wasn't a soul at the Wachovia Center who could guess what was about to transpire.
''It was one of the worst shots of my life,'' Nocioni said. ''When you have a first shot like that, you feel really bad. Then I picked up my game and helped my team. And that's it.''
Not exactly.
Between Nocioni's opening brick and the final horn of the Bulls' 100-97 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, there were big-time blown leads by both teams. The Sixers led by 18. The Bulls then came back and were up by 16.
And yet, in the final minute, it was a one-possession game as the Bulls led 97-94 with 21.4 seconds left.
''It was kind of a wild game; we couldn't throw it in the ocean in the first quarter,'' Bulls coach Jim Boylan said. ''But we hung in there, and guys fought back.''
Nocioni, fighting a flu bug which he said made his body sore from top to bottom earlier in the week, helped by scoring a game-high 27 points, grabbing seven rebounds, dishing four assists and blocking two shots.
''I knew he'd give me everything he had,'' Boylan said of Nocioni, whose illness limited him to 16 minutes in the Bulls' loss to the New York Knicks on Tuesday. ''He started out a little slow, so I was concerned. Then he came back in and turned it up. I wanted to give him a rest in the second half, but I needed his offense out there. And when Noce gets going like that, he can really just go forever. He was great.''