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Bulls' Butler suffers elbow injury

The Bulls came back from the all-star break Feb. 20 with a full, healthy roster. It didn't take long for that scenario to crumble.

Leading scorer Jimmy Butler was the latest player to leave with an injury. He suffered a left-elbow sprain early in the third quarter Sunday after getting hit by a pick set by Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan.

Butler immediately buckled in pain and went to the bench. After a few minutes, he headed to the locker room and stayed there.

"I think it's a hyperextension of the elbow," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "He'll have an MRI (Monday) and we'll find out more then."

Butler already has been playing with his left thumb wrapped. He scored 10 points against the Clippers before leaving.

At the moment, the Bulls are missing three of their top five scorers: Butler, Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson. Pau Gasol played Sunday but is still feeling under the weather, according to Thibodeau. Gasol skipped Friday's win over Minnesota due to an illness.

Rose will be out 4-6 weeks after having arthroscopic surgery to remove torn meniscus cartilage in his right knee. Gibson suffered a sprained left ankle in the first quarter Friday and figures to be out at least a week.

"It's an unforgiving league," Thibodeau said. "You don't want to feel sorry for yourself. Hopefully we have a will and a determination to get us past the time when things are tough."

The Bulls have a busy upcoming schedule. After hosting Washington on Tuesday, they have a brutal four games in five nights - Oklahoma City at home, at Indiana, at San Antonio, followed by Memphis at home next Monday.

"It's tough to lose players to injuries," Joakim Noah said. "All we can do is keep going. Nobody feels sorry for us."

Noah still limited:

After Sunday's loss, coach Tom Thibodeau talked about his habit of pulling Joakim Noah in and out of the lineup during fourth quarters. It all stems from Noah's return from arthroscopic knee surgery last summer.

"We're trying not to run his minutes straight through," Thibodeau said. "We've been doing that all year to try to stay within where we would like his minuets to be. He usually gets a break for a few minutes, then we usually close with him.

"I like the way Jo's been playing. That 32 to 34 minutes is probably right for him."

Low for Gasol:

Clippers center DeAndre Jordan on limiting former L.A. rival Pau Gasol to a season-low 4 points.

"It was a team effort," he said. "I just wanted to play him with length and push him off his spot as much as possible and make it tough for him. He's a heck of a player, inside and out. I just wanted to frustrate him a little bit."

The Bulls could use a player like Jordan. He has the NBA's longest consecutive games played streak, which hit 300 on Sunday. The Bulls have just two players - Aaron Brooks and Nikola Mirotic - who have made it to all 59 games this season.

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