Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah will miss at least two weeks with a sprained left shoulder, Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg announced on Tuesday.
Joakim Noah to miss at least 2 weeks with sprained shoulder
Noah will be reevaluated in two weeks, and this injury will give rookie Bobby Portis a chance to prove himself.
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Noah suffered the injury in the third quarter of the Bulls' 105-102 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night when he tried to make a play on the ball during a Andrea Bargnani drive to the basket. The Bulls center immediately left the court in a lot of pain and went to the locker room.
Noah said his shoulder popped out, but it was popped back in and he was initially diagnosed with a sprain after X-rays were negative. An MRI confirmed the sprain, and he’ll be reevaluated in two weeks.
While the injury looked a lot worse than it is, this is still a tough blow to a Bulls team struggling to find an identity under new head coach Fred Hoiberg. Noah’s issues from last year carried over to the start of this season as he struggled to adjust to a new bench role, but the big man had found a groove of late as leader of the bench unit.
Noah had four points, eight rebounds and eight assists in just 16 minutes against the Nets before leaving with the injury. His facilitating skills from the high post have helped prop up the Bulls' second-unit offense. Noah and Doug McDermott specifically have developed nice chemistry with each other.
With Noah out at least two weeks, rookie big man Bobby Portis will see more consistent minutes. Portis played 37 minutes over the last two games after playing just 26 minutes all year before that. The rookie has shown promise, but he can't replicate Noah's role on defense or serve as an initiator of the offense. As a result, the Bulls will have to make up for that loss in other ways.
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