The Chicago Bulls continue to play their best basketball of the season despite no or limited contributions from center Joakim Noah, who continues to battle a foot problem. Noah should play tonight but won’t start and probably won’t get more than 20 minutes as Chicago hosts Portland for the lone time this season.
The Bulls are 3.5-point favorites on WagerWeb.com’s NBA odds.
Chicago has moved into the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference standings, having won seven of 10 games thanks in large part to Derrick Rose and Luol Deng. Since his first All-Star appearance, Rose has averaged 22.8 points and shot 54.3 percent in six games. And the contributions of rookie power forward Taj Gibson can’t be overlooked, as he has averaged 12.8 points and 11.2 rebounds in the six games since the All-Star break. That is big with Noah so limited; he played just seven minutes in Wednesday’s win over Indiana. It was Noah’s third game back after sitting out seven to rest his foot.
Meanwhile, Deng, who scored a season-high 31 against the Pacers, missed practice Thursday with a sore knee but expects to play tonight. Chicago has won three in a row at home, during which it is averaging 120 points. In their last six wins, the Bulls have averaged 114 points. Chicago is No. 1 in the NBA in rebounding (45.5), blocks (6.2) and field-goal defense (.437).
Portland has won its first two games of a five-game trip, blowing out the Raptors Wednesday. Recent acquisition Marcus Camby sprained his ankle, however, and is questionable tonight.
The Blazers have won five in a row against Chicago, including a 122-98 win on Nov. 23 in the Rose Garden. LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Blazers and Deng had 25 points for Chicago. The Blazers shot 57.5 percent from the floor, but they also had Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla healthy then. The past three in this series haven’t been close, with Portland winning by 24, 14 and 42 points.
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