Nocioni a dirty player?

Taking shots
Andres Nocioni was having a good laugh after Saturday's win over the Clippers about Tim Thomas, who smacked Nocioni to draw a flagrant foul after Nocioni almost provoked Ruben Patterson into a fight with a flagrant foul.

"Maybe [Thomas] has some problem with me because I play in Chicago and he doesn't," Nocioni said. "Maybe he wanted to wear my number when he played in Chicago."

Nocioni had taken a hard shot on a previous possession and didn't argue his flagrant against Patterson. But Patterson still was irate:

"They shouldn't allow that type of nonsense. He should have been kicked out of the game. He didn't even try to swipe at the ball. He went straight for my face. He's known for being dirty like that.

"It's like what he did to Sam [Cassell] in Chicago when he hit him and [nearly] broke his nose. He's just a dirty guy. And if the league keeps letting him get away with stuff like that, somebody's going to get hurt."