Bulls' Gibson on fans throwing things at him: 'That's what happens when you're in Cleveland'

Taj Gibson may be setting himself up to replace Chicago Bulls teammate Joakim Noah as Cleveland's favorite villain.

After his fourth quarter ejection for kicking out at Matthew Dellavedova - a kick Gibson denies - the Bulls forward had what appeared to be a water bottle and a towel thrown at him from the crowd as he exited through the players' tunnel before the Cavaliers went on to win Game 5 106-101 on Tuesday.

It was a cowardly act by anonymous fans, but not a surprising one to Gibson, given his surroundings.

"That's what happens when you're in Cleveland," Gibson told reporters postgame. "Second time in a row they threw stuff at us. It's classless, but we're here to play basketball. We can't focus on that kind of stuff."

Noah, whose personal rivalry with the city began in a playoff series five years ago, was fined $25,000 for pushing a Cleveland fan during halftime of Game 2, with the Bulls center reportedly telling a security guard that a fan spat at him as he left the court.

Noah has been booed consistently during the Bulls' annual divisional trips to Ohio for the last half-decade. Not that it will bother him much, but Gibson can probably expect the same from here on out.