The Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls are playing in the first preseason game for both teams tonight, and they wasted no time producing a sequel to the Jimmy Butler-Nene tussle from last year’s playoffs (Nene was ejected for his role). This time, some jawing between Butler and Paul Pierce (who, we should note, wasn’t even on the Wizards last year) led to some shoving between Pierce and Joakim Noah, before Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau stepped in to restore order. As with most NBA fights, this one was relatively harmless (save for an eye-poke from Pierce on Noah), but a pseudo-rivalry between an up-and-coming team with a battle-tested veteran (Wizards and Pierce) and a team looking to reclaim a top seed with a returning superstar (Bulls and Derrick Rose) would at least add some much-needed excitement to the dreadful Eastern Conference.
Speaking of Derrick Rose, he started the game 4-for-5 from the field, with his first bucket coming on a classic floating bank shot. More of this, please (and tussling, too).
