Taj Gibson made his first start since March 2011 a memorable one.

Replacing the flu-stricken Joakim Noah, Gibson, who had come off the bench in 96 straight games, fell one point shy of his career-high with 21 points and added 11 rebounds and four blocks Wednesday night in the 96-94 victory over the Magic.

“I just tried to be active,” Gibson said.

Gibson logged 44 minutes, 49 seconds, spending most of those matched against 7-foot Nikola Vucevic. The two used to spar regularly at Tim Floyd’s USC practices during Vucevic’s freshman and Gibson’s senior seasons.

via K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune