Joakim Noah Out With Thigh Bruise

Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah sat out Tuesday night’s tilt with the Milwaukee Bucks — Noah was out shooting after Monday’s practice, but didn’t play in the Bucks’ 78-74 win due to a bruised right thigh. Per the Chicago Sun-Times: “Asked after the Bulls’ shootaround Tuesday whether any players besides Luol Deng (left Achilles), Jimmy Butler (turf toe), Mike James (right knee) and, of course, Derrick Rose (right knee) were injured, Thibodeau responded, ‘No.’ He also didn’t divulge any new information during his pregame media session. Maybe it was an oversight, but center Joakim Noah was ruled out of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks because of a bruised right thigh suffered Saturday against the Detroit Pistons. That meant the Bulls opened a stretch of four games in five days with only nine healthy bodies and a starting lineup of Mike Dunleavy, Carlos Boozer, Nazr Mohammed, Tony Snell and Kirk Hinrich. Only Boozer is a regular starter. ‘Well, you’ve got to be the same every day,’ Thibodeau said of a season in which there have been so many injuries. ‘I think that’s important in this league. There are times where you may have the schedule going in your favor and you may be completely healthy, and there are times where the schedule is not going in your favor and you have injuries. You don’t get here by accident. Everyone is capable. And if we play well, we’ll have a good chance to win. This is the NBA. You’ve got to get through things.'”