There was a lot of talk about celebrating going into last night's Chicago Bulls-Indiana Pacers showdown at the United Center. The Pacers handed Chicago its first home loss of the season on Jan. 25, and reacted the way you might expect: with the elation of David finally besting Goliath after years of failure. Derrick Rose didn't like being shown up on his home turf and let the world know it: no one celebrates in the MVP's house and lives to tell the story. "D. Rose's Revenge" was a go.
Monday night's rematch was close for a half until Rose and Chicago pulled away in the third quarter thanks to a barrage of three-pointers. The Bulls turned a one-point halftime deficit into a blowout by drubbing Indy 33-13 in the third.
Blowout victories in Chicago equate to one thing: Brian Scalabrine chants. When the White Mamba entered the game in the final minute, the crowd went wild, both in appreciate of the exiting stars who carried the win and for Scal himself, the UC's beloved ginger-tinted victory cigar. But the crowd's reaction had nothing on the Bulls starters when Scalabrine scored on a baseline floater as time wound down.
You want to talk about celebrating? This is celebrating.
So many great things about this picture. D. Rose breaking character and showing some genuine emotion. Noah doing Noah things. Ronnie Brewer dancing like your dad after three glasses of white zinfandel at your cousin's wedding. Just great times all around.
Of course, we have to circle back to Noah once again.
If Noah's Grant Park victory parade speech/dancing isn't enough of a reason to root for the Bulls to win the championship, I don't know what is.