Feb. 24--The Bulls are in their familiar shorthanded position Monday vs. the Bucks as Taj Gibson has joined Kirk Hinrich on the sidelines with illness.
Hinrich missed his second straight game. Gibson, who revealed late Saturday he is playing through a ligament tear in his left hand, is newly out.
At least the regular lineup of Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Mike Dunleavy, Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol is intact. That unit, which is 14-4, started its fourth straight game for just the third time this season.
The Bulls have won five of six.
"I think we're OK with where we're at," Butler said. "I'm not going to say we like it because we know we can be much better on both ends of the floor. And we gotta get it turned around before the playoffs start, actually. But I think we're moving in the right direction, so we've got 26 more games to figure it out."
Coach Tom Thibodeau specifically cited Noah for recent improvement.
"When you look at how Jo has played the last 10 games, he's getting close to where he was," Thibodeau said.
That 10-game stretch starts the exact day that Noah said he felt better than he has all season at the start of a West Coast trip with a victory over the Warriors.
For the surprising Bucks, Michael Carter-Williams, acquired at the trade deadline, won't make his debut as he continues to battle a sprained right toe. And Ersan Ilyasova started in place of Jared Dudley to combat the Bulls' size.
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