"Thanks to a dominant showing on the boards Friday, the Bulls again played giant killers, beating the Miami Heat 96-89 at American Airlines Arena.

No small feat, considering the Heat (22-9) had the best record in the Eastern Conference and the best home record in the NBA at 15-2. Make that 15-3 now, and Bulls center Joakim Noah loved every minute of it.

Playing in his first game since he was sidelined most of the week with flulike symptoms, Noah scored 13 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and handed out four assists, but it was his postgame interview that spoke volumes about just how big this victory was for him and his teammates.

"It's a great win for us,'' Noah said. "We just pounded the glass [48-28 advantage]. It was a great team effort, and we needed it. We haven't been playing great basketball, and this is probably the biggest win of the year against the defending champs. It feels good.

"I know what's going to happen. [Heat coach Erik Spoelstra] is going to get them hyped for the next game because we kicked their butt on the glass. They're going to try to make it a physical game, and that's cool.''