Frustrating Hawks loss lingers for Bulls

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ORLANDO -- A full day after his team's biggest meltdown of the season, Joakim Noah still couldn't believe just how poorly his team has played the final 24 minutes of his team's 83-80 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.Noah and his teammates endured both a film session and a practice session on Thursday and Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau hopes that both will help the team get back on track on Friday night in another big game against the Orlando Magic."When we looked at the film we saw at the end of the first half, we were loose with the lead," Thibodeau said. "Careless at both ends, and it gave [Atlanta] hope. NBA Atlanta Hawks Jerseys So we didn't end the first half well and then we started the third quarter poorly and when you're up 17 they had the first run,MLB Jerseys, cut it to 10 or 12, and now there's hope that they can win. We fought an uphill battle and we played low energy, and we allowed our offense to impact our defense. And that being said, we still have a five point lead with three and a half minutes to go and we didn't do the things that were necessary to win at the end.""Just our toughness and things we should have done better," the frustrated center said. "We kind of let down. We were too loose."
Thibodeau tried to impart to his team that they couldn't fall into the same trap against the Magic, despite the fact that the Magic square off against the Miami Heat on Thursday night while the Bulls enjoy a night off."I don't know if it does [help]," Thibodeau said of facing off against a team that plays the night before. "Because at this time of the year, I think you're beyond the dog days. You look at the final 20 and you have a lot of teams that are going head to head now. So it's so important to each team for positioning, that they'll be ready to play. And if we go in and we're thinking that because they're playing tonight and that's an advantage, that's the wrong thinking. We've got to come out ready to play because of who they are. NBA Jerseys And I think readiness to play is huge in this league. "The first quarter's critical. They're a quality team, and I think a lot of people may be overlooking Orlando. They made a big trade during in the year, and I think at the end they have as much as anybody. They have a dominant center and any time you have a dominant player you're in business." What to do with Howard?: Magic center Dwight Howard has given the Bulls problems over recent years, and Noah knows that squaring off against the All-Star big man poses a different challenge than almost anyone else in the league. "Just try to match his energy," Noah said of the matchup. "He's definitely a specimen out there. Just do our best to try and eliminate all his easy baskets around the basket. It's easier said than done, obviously. But that's definitely the plan."