Joakim Noah isn’t LeBron James’ biggest fan, but he was his biggest obstacle to the basket Friday night.
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Aside from being one of the best defenders in the NBA Joakim Noah is also just one of the nastiest dudes in the league. He doesn’t take anything from NOBODY and embodies the Chicago Bulls‘ tough mentality. Facing LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Noah had the task of protecting the paint not only against LeBron, but also against Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
Leave it Noah to rise to the occasion. LeBron was driving to the rim fully intending to lay it in when Noah came in with the swat.
(H/t @_MarcusD_)
The most impressive thing here (other than it came against LeBron) was where Noah picked him up from. He was nearly on the opposite elbow and came all the way across and stuck to LeBron’s hip before timing his jump exactly with LeBron’s spring.
Both of these teams figure to face each other in the Eastern Conference Finals, and this matchup between Noah and LeBron has always been a good one dating back to some great series between the Miami Heat and the Bulls.
With Derrick Rose back, these two teams figure to have a ton of great battles in the future.
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