The Bulls will be without starting small forward Luol Deng for the next 1-3 weeks with a lingering Achilles injury. Deng has played in 33 games (32 starts) this season for the Bulls and he is averaging 34.7 minutes, 17.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Deng will be replaced in the starting lineup by Andres Nocioni who is having a solid season. Nocioni has played in 43 games (15 starts) this season and he is averaging 26.4 minutes, 14.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Tyrus Thomas will also likely see a bump in his playing time. Thomas has played in 38 games (11 starts) this season and he is averaging 16.0 minutes, 5.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists. Thomas needs to shoot better as he is only hitting 38.9% of his shots from the floor and 68.7% of his shots from the free throw line this year.

Andres Nocioni is out indefinately with plantar faciitis. This has been a huge blow to the Bulls so far as Nocioni plays all-out all the time and his energy rubs off on his teammates. He has played in 48 games this season and he’s averaging 14.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists.