New-timers’ day

The chant started in the far reaches of the 300 level, those United Center sections that have been barren during the wasteland of the past six seasons.

The chant cascaded downward, bathing the Bulls—and one in particular—in love as they put the finishing touches on Sunday’s 103-94 victory over Washington in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

“Noc-I-oni! Noc-I-oni!”

You didn’t need an interpreter to know that the man with the broken English and the manic intensity had gone where no rookie had gone before on an evening the Bulls were entering uncharted territory as well.

Andres Nocioni’s season-high 25 points and 18 rebounds—the most by a rookie in NBA playoff history—came in a full-game 48 minutes of lunch-pail effort, setting the tone for this scrappy Bulls victory in their first postseason appearance in seven years.

It allowed the Bulls, who also received 30 points from Ben Gordon and 17 points and seven assists from Kirk Hinrich, to seize a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 2 is Wednesday night at the United Center.

“I think it’s safe to say that was Noce’s best game,” coach Scott Skiles said. “He made timely plays too.”

Few were timelier than his three-pointer from the right corner with 2 minutes 26 seconds remaining and the Bulls clinging to a 96-94 lead. When it swished through, the sellout crowd of 22,655 erupted and Washington didn’t score again, a drought that lasted 3:19 in all.

“Everybody makes fun of me for screaming on my rebounds and when I flop,” Nocioni said. “But that’s my person.”

His teammates hope that same “person,” the one who reacted angrily earlier this week to being called dirty by Gilbert Arenas, shows up for Game 2.

“I really don’t know what got into him,” said Hinrich, shaking his head and smiling. “Hopefully, he’ll eat the same thing, follow the same routine. He was a warrior. That’s what we need from him.”

And Washington needs more from Arenas, whose line of nine points, eight assists and eight rebounds doesn’t explain his ineffectiveness. Having averaged 30.3 points during the season series against the Bulls, Arenas went 3-for-19 and committed four turnovers.

“[Chris Duhon] did a nice job on him,” Skiles said. “But we don’t want to take too much credit for Gilbert’s shooting performance. He’s had such a great year against us. He just had an off night.”

The Bulls trailed 82-77 entering the fourth quarter of a back-and-forth game that featured 18 lead changes and 13 ties.

Skiles went to a three-guard lineup of Duhon, Hinrich and Gordon that created odd situations, like Duhon guarding Antawn Jamison, but clicked offensively.

Jamison, too, struggled his way to 14 points on 6-for-15 shooting as the Bulls’ league-leading defense held Washington to 38.4 percent shooting.

Only Kwame Brown, who left with a bruised right knee, and Larry Hughes, who scored a game-high 31 points, got anything going. But Hughes scored only seven second-half points.

“I tried to get into him and pressure him,” Hinrich said.

The gamesmanship started early, when Washington took the Bulls’ basket for pregame warm-ups.

The Bulls, who committed a season-low-tying nine turnovers, led 53-52 at halftime despite big-man foul trouble.

Like an assembly line, Antonio Davis, Tyson Chandler and Jared Reiner each picked up two quick fouls, putting the Bulls over the foul limit at the 4:07 mark of the first quarter.

Washington enjoyed a 13-2 first-quarter free-throw advantage. But in the second, Gordon put on one of his double-digit scoring displays with 12 points, posting his 35th such quarter to help the Bulls go up by as many as seven points.

At the other end, Hughes lit up Gordon for 14 second-quarter points on 6-for-6 shooting. Hughes’ outburst helped Washington withstand a 1-for-14 first half by Arenas and Jamison.

Arenas didn’t score until a baseline floater 44 seconds into the second half.

“Our guards were scrappy,” Skiles said.

So was Nocioni. So were the fans that chanted his name. So was Skiles, who almost separated his shoulder on a few fist pumps.

All were in territory that hadn’t been visited in years. In 28 tries, the Bulls never have lost a playoff series in which they held home-court advantage.

So far, so good.