Video: DeMar DeRozan passes to wide open Joakim Noah on Bulls bench
The Raptors didn’t have their best fourth quarter Wednesday night. Toronto gave up 39 points to Chicago in the final period, including 25 over the game’s final seven minutes in a 116-103 home loss.
Even with the Raptors’ collapse, there was a silver lining: Toronto clinched a playoff berth Wednesday with the Celtics and Hornets losing.
• MORE NBA: Mills's story | Trends: Westbrook's impact | Give and Go
Despite that eventual good news, things weren’t looking so good for Toronto with 1:24 left, when DeMarDeRozan drove right, picked up his dribble and whipped a pass to the corner to a wide open … Joakim Noah.
[daily_cut.NBA] The Bulls center was wearing his white warmups—the same color as the Raptors' jerseys—so it’s understandable DeRozan saw him in his peripheral vision. And while it’s impossible to know for certain whether Noah was going for an intentional distraction, he did celebrate the turnover with some applause, a sly grin and a high five from Mike Dunleavy.
For his part, Noah didn’t think the color of his shirt was a good excuse for the turnover, saying after the game, “Yeah I was wearing a white shirt. My white practice shirt. So he thought that I was a Toronto Raptor. Unfortunately there’s nobody with a bun, with long hair and a beard—and a bun—on the Toronto Raptors. Go Bulls.”
• MORE NBA: Hill hits game-winner | Jordan dunks on Smith | Highlights
