A History of the TNT Bulls

Game 10: The birth of Snelly Cat

Basketball-Reference box score.

Remember when Noah would just say crazy things unprovoked and everyone around him would kind of just pretend it was normal? This was my favorite one of those times.

The Bulls handed it to the newly supercharged Cleveland Cavaliers thanks to 30 points from a rolling D Rose. He would tear his meniscus in just 13 days, ending his season prematurely for the third year in a row. The Bulls also saw a huge performance from Tony Snell, whose 22 points would be a season high if he hadn’t scored 24 the previous game. It was the only time all season that he broke 13 in consecutive games.

Snell also did a lion’s share of the work guarding Lebron James and helped force eight turnovers from the King. When asked about the sloppy night from James, Noah said, “The Snelly Cat was all over the place. Snelly Cat was huge.” Even if Basketball-Reference won’t recognize it, this is Snell’s legal name now.

This was a high point for the Bulls’ season. A win against Lebron, a great game from Rose, a solidification of first place in the Central Division, it was all coming up Bulls. But we know what happens once those TNT lights go off: the games are harder, the wins are harder to come by and Snelly Cat isn’t quite as huge.