Taj Gibson, Kirk Hinrich Out Against Bucks
(CBS) The Bulls will be short-handed when they host the Bucks tonight.
Reserve forward Taj Gibson and reserve guard Kirk Hinrich have both been ruled out with illness. It will be the second straight game Hinrich misses because he's sick.
Gibson played some of his best basketball of the season in the fourth quarter of Chicago's win against Phoenix on Saturday, then revealed afterward that he's been playing with a ligament tear in his left hand. Gibson said his hand is "feeling a lot better" now, but now he's encountered another minor hurdle.
Asked about his rotation with just 26 games remaining in the regular season, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau admitted it's still a work in progress because of the many health issues. He doesn't have a timeframe getting it set in stone.
"I don't want to jump ahead to the playoffs," Thibodeau said. "I want us to be right where we are and concentrate.
"During the course of a season you go through a lot of things like this where you have injuries. The challenge becomes how quickly can we adapt to change? And that's really been the story of the season. We've got the core group together, which is good. Guys are going to get sick, that's part of it. Not much you can do about it."
In another note, Thibodeau said he likes Joakim Noah playing 32 to 34 minutes per game now that the big man is feeling healthier. Still, Noah has a minutes restriction "to a certain degree," Thibodeau said.
Chicago (35-21) and Milwaukee (31-24) sit in the third and sixth spots in the East, respectively, right now, so they could potentially square off in the first round of the playoffs.