Joakim Noah puts away finger guns celebration

In wake of the recent tragedy in Newtown, Conn., Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah decided to end his trademark flashing of imaginary pistols following made jump shots, NBA.com's Steve Aschburner writes. The move was noticeably absent from Noah's impressive performance in Chicago's 100-89 win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.

Recording his second career triple-double with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, Noah was the talk of the town after the Bulls' impressive performance, but he never did his standard celebration in making 4 of 7 shots from the field.

"You can’t joke around with things like that," Noah said after the victory. "Too many people are dying because of guns. We have a problem here with guns. So just trying to be a little bit compassionate about what’s going on."

Noah says he began doing the motion after hitting a jumper in former teammate Keith Bogans' face during practice years ago, and it eventually developed into a habit. But after noting that, "We have a serious problem with [gun violence] in Chicago," he added, "This gun thing in this country is no joke."

Noah's in the midst of a breakout season, with per game averages of 13.6 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.4 steals. He's also the anchor of one of the very best defensive squads in all of basketball.