The way Noah saw it, the Bulls' 101-87 loss at Quicken Loans Arena was humiliating enough without the extras.

''It's just frustrating to lose,'' he said after his team lost for the sixth time in seven games. ''It's just frustrating to lose the way we've been losing lately, and that's really it.

''When you're losing the way that you're losing and guys are just rubbing it in your face, dancing and all that -- I have a lot of respect for LeBron. It's just a frustrating situation.''

Neither player would detail the exchange they had after James took a few steps toward the Bulls bench between free throws -- which earned James a technical -- but James said that he and his teammates had nothing to apologize for.

''It's nothing against the Bulls , it's nothing against Joakim or any of those guys,'' he said. ''It's not something that's new. We have fun, and we love to play the game of Basketball. It's nothing about showboating; that's not what we do.

''I think he was frustrated by the way he played, maybe, as an individual, didn't help his team win.''

That last comment may have been a subtle shot, but frustration was Noah's obvious emotion after the game.

''It just sucks to lose,'' he said. ''That's the toughest thing. We can't compete for 48 minutes and we just have to find a way to win games, because this losing thing is not a good look. It's not what anybody in this locker room expected, so we have to find a way to start winning games because this losing thing is frustrating.''

The Bulls (7-10) actually got off to a decent start.

Despite shooting 58.3 percent in the first half, the Cavaliers (14-5) had just a 47-46 halftime lead mainly because of 11 turnovers.

Derrick Rose (13 points) then hit a floater to start the second half to give the Bulls a 48-47 lead, their first of the game. A few minutes later, Rose hit another shot for a 54-52 Bulls lead with eight minutes left in the third quarter, but the offense soon fell apart and they managed just seven points the rest of the quarter.

Following Rose's basket, the Cavaliers went on a 15-2 run for a 67-56 lead. Cleveland's advantage was up to 76-61 at the end of the quarter as the Bulls went 5-for-20 from the field in the third.

Things didn't get much better for the Bulls at the start of the fourth despite James taking a rest. When Jamario Moon threw down an alley-oop dunk off a pass from Mo Williams, the Cavaliers' lead was up to 84-65 with just under nine minutes remaining.

TONIGHT

RAPTORS AT Bulls

The facts: 7, CSN, 1000-AM.

THE RECAP

Bulls 25 21 15 26-- 87

Cleveland 30 17 29 25--101

Bulls min fg-a ft-a o-t a pf pts

Deng 31:18 4-9 2-2 2-5 3 3 11

TGibson 35:53 7-14 0-2 4-13 0 5 14

Noah 30:34 2-7 3-4 3-10 3 2 7

Rose 29:17 5-16 3-3 0-1 7 0 13

Salmons 30:36 5-12 0-0 1-2 0 2 12

Miller 23:06 3-5 2-2 1-4 2 4 8

Johnson 22:06 1-4 2-2 1-3 1 4 4

Hunter 18:43 1-5 2-2 0-1 1 1 4

Pargo 12:00 3-4 1-1 0-3 2 2 9

Gray 6:27 2-2 1-2 0-0 1 2 5

Totals 240 33-78 16-20 12-42 20 25 87

Percentages: FG .423, FT .800. 3-Point Goals: 5-9, .556 (Pargo 2-2, Salmons 2-4, Deng 1-1, Hunter 0-2). Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 15 (15 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Johnson 2, Deng, Miller, Noah). Turnovers: 11 (Deng 3, Hunter 2, Pargo 2, Johnson, Miller, Noah, Rose). Steals: 6 (Deng 2, T.Gibson, Miller, Noah, Rose). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second, 1:22 first.

Cavs min fg-a ft-a o-t a pf pts

LJames 34:12 8-17 6-10 0-6 11 1 23

Hickson 19:50 4-7 1-3 2-4 0 0 9

O'Neal 17:48 4-5 0-5 2-7 1 1 8

Williams 36:40 5-13 2-2 0-2 7 2 15

Parker 25:32 2-5 1-2 3-6 4 2 6

Varejao 29:23 4-9 2-3 1-5 1 2 10

Moon 13:31 2-3 0-0 0-0 1 3 4

Ilgauskas 22:18 3-6 3-4 4-7 0 3 9

West 5:10 0-0 0-0 1-1 1 0 0

DGibson 26:26 7-9 0-0 1-3 1 0 15

Green 5:26 0-2 2-2 1-1 0 0 2

Jackson 3:44 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 0 0

Totals 240 39-76 17-31 17-44 27 14 101

Percentages: FG .513, FT .548. 3-Point Goals: 6-18, .333 (M.Williams 3-7, D.Gibson 1-2, L.James 1-3, Parker 1-3, Moon 0-1, Green 0-2). Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: 11 (13 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Varejao 3, Moon, O'Neal). Turnovers: 11 (O'Neal 3, Parker 2, M.Williams 2, D.Gibson, L.James, Moon, Varejao). Steals: 5 (M.Williams 4, Hickson). Technical Fouls: O'Neal, 0:27.2 second; L.James, 6:00 fourth.

Officials--Ken Mauer, Gary Zielinski, Sean Wright. A--20,562. T--2:31.