Noah hurt, Gasol calls out Bulls after loss to Nets

CHICAGO – Chicago Bulls forward Pau Gasol called out his teammates for a lack of urgency Monday after a 105-102 loss to the Brooklyn Nets in which Joakim Noah was injured.

The Nets, a woeful 8-20 on the season, snapped an eight-game road losing streak while the Bulls lost their third in a row and fell to 15-11.

Spanish star Gasol said the Bulls struggled at times to match Brooklyn’s intensity.

”We were missing a lot of parts of the game,” Gasol said. ”A sense of urgency. We cruise for most of the game.

Then when we have our back against the wall, we turn it up and try to give ourselves a chance.

”But sometimes it’s just too late. It’s something we need to address and need to correct and improve upon. We just need change.”

But be careful what you wish for as the change could be a replacement for star center Noah.

Noah had four points, eight rebounds and eight assists when he left the game with a left shoulder sprain in the last minute of the third quarter and did not return. He will be re-examined on Tuesday.

With the game deadlocked at 60-60, the Nets went on a 21-9 run and never trailed again.

”We came out right from the start with a lot of fight and a lot of purpose,” said Nets coach Lionel Hollins. ”We took the fight to them. We were very focused for the whole game and that was good to see.”

Brook Lopez had 21 points and 12 rebounds to spark Brooklyn while Jimmy Butler had 24 points and Gasol contributed 20 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots. (AFP)