Joakim Noah Forces Two Turnovers Late
With the Bulls trying fight of the Cavaliers, who were making a run late, Joakim Noah really made his presence felt on the defensive end. Two times in the final 4 minutes, Noah made a smart play on the defensive end getting a stop and helping the Bulls get out in transition.
On this first play, the Cavs try to run a double screen to free up the lane for LeBron James. The Bulls counter by having James’ defender, Luol Deng, go under the screen. To make going under the screen much easier, both Rose and Noah back up off their man to clear a lane for Deng to get through. This is a pretty good defensive strategy by Chicago as you would rather want James shooting a three than getting in the lane, and going under the screen does just that.
With Noah and Rose clearing a lane, Deng is able to cut off James and force a kick-out pass to Delonte West.
West then pump-fakes to LeBron. Deng bikes on the fake, and LeBron cuts into the paint and receives the pass. Joakim Noah is currently in help position on the opposite low-block.
As James makes his catch, Noah quickly shows. I don’t think James was expecting this because he makes the catch and quickly leaves his feet.
As James is caught in the air, he tries to make a pass to Antawn Jamison. However, Noah quickly reacts to the pass and he is able to get his hands on it.
Rose corrals the deflection and off they go to the other end of the court. Here it is in real time, notice how Noah shows, but doesn’t really leave his man which is what allows for him to get his hand on the basketball.
The second stop that Noah forced comes with about 1 minute left as the Cavs try to run a pick and roll with LeBron James as the ballhandler. Now, we have seen teams really struggle with defending the pick and roll in the playoffs, but not here:
As James comes off of the Jamison screen, Noah quickly shows. Again, I think Noah surprises James, and as James tries to make his move, Noah gets his hand on the ball, knocking it away and allowing for Luol Deng to scoop it up.
Both of these plays show you what makes Noah such a good defender in my opinion. He makes quick decisions and forces the offense to react to them rather than reacting to what the offense does. On both of these plays, LeBron looks surprised by Noah being there, and I think that is a result of his quick decision making.
