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Noah says he'll be in the lineup tonight

Joakim Noah practiced on Wednesday and there was none of the usual hedging about game-time decisions or seeing how he feels in the morning.

Actually, coach Tom Thibodeau did say something along those lines. But Noah said he's planning to play Thursday against New York, after missing the previous four games with a sprained right ankle.

"Right before he went down, he was actually playing really well," Thibodeau said. "Hopefully, he can get back to that right away. He looked good today."

The Bulls appear to be going through a cautious phase with injuries. Taj Gibson missed seven games with an ankle sprain and has played well since returning. Noah turned the ankle on Dec. 3 at Charlotte, and played three days later against Golden State before taking time off.

"I feel pretty good and excited to be able to play tomorrow," Noah said.

This puts the Bulls back at nearly full strength. Rookie Doug McDermott will be out a month or more after arthroscopic knee surgery, and Gibson is still listed as questionable for Thursday with a sprained right ankle.

With Noah, Gibson and Pau Gasol out at various times, at least one Bulls big man has been sidelined in 13 of the last 14 games.

Bulls will miss Parker:

The Bulls know all about ACL tears by graduates of Simeon Career Academy, so there were sad reactions to news that Milwaukee Bucks rookie Jabari Parker will be out for the year with a torn ACL.

Parker was already favored to win rookie of the year and helped Milwaukee achieve surprising improvement.

Parker entered Simeon shortly after Derrick Rose graduated. Rose did not speak to reporters Wednesday at the Advocate Center.

"I hate to see it," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "It's an unfortunate part of the game. He's got such a bright future. He's a great kid. He'll bounce back. You have to be mentally tough when you hit some adversity. He has that. It's in him. But you hate to see anyone go down with an injury like that."

Added Joakim Noah, "I met Jabari a couple times. He came to the church where we did the Peace Tournament at St. Sabina with Father (Michael) Pfleger. Very active in the community.

"It's just unfortunate what happened to him. I wish him nothing but the best."

Bairstow knows bowling:

Joakim Noah wasn't happy about losing to rookie Cameron Bairstow for the players championship at the Bulls' annual bowling party Tuesday.

"I was really ticked off, man, because I've been wanting to win this bowling event for eight years now," Noah said. "I've come close. Taj (Gibson) was out. He's the heavy favorite. And Bairstow actually rolled a 70 and was throwing it with two hands. So I was like, 'There's no way I'm going to lose to this Aussie.' And he beat me and I was devastated."

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