Noah has surgery, Hinrich out vs. GS

The Chicago Bulls had two notable injury updates to report Tuesday.

First, center Joakim Noah had surgery on his left shoulder in New York on Tuesday morning, and coach Fred Hoiberg said it was "100 percent successful." Noah is not expected to play again this season.

The other news is Kirk Hinrich won't play against Golden State on Wednesday because of a left-quad contusion. Hoiberg said Hinrich likely will need four or five more days to recover.

This news could be significant, because when the Bulls lost to the Warriors 106-94 on Nov. 21 in Oakland, California, Hinrich actually had some success slowing down Steph Curry, who hit just 3 of 11 shots from 3-point range and finished with 27 points, 3 below his season average,

Derrick Rose missed the first Warriors game with an ankle sprain.

"I thought the first game we really battled. Kirk was phenomenal," Hoiberg said Tuesday at the Advocate Center. "Kirk was forced to play a lot of minutes, but he did an unbelievable job trying to guard Steph. He still scored his points, but I thought Kirk did a really good job battling.

"We tried to do some different things to change some things up. It's such a hard team to play one way. You have to try and switch things up and keep them off balance as much as you can, knowing that they're going to hit tough shots. You can't put your head down. Once you do that it snowballs in the wrong direction."

Hoiberg ranks Curry No. 1:

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg had high praise for Golden State guard Steph Curry on Tuesday.

"(Curry) is so unique. It's tough to compare guys to him," he said. "You could absolutely argue he's the best shooter ever to play this game."

The best ever? Really?

"I think so," Hoiberg said.

Someone brought up Reggie Miller, a Hoiberg teammate for a few years in Indiana, but the Bulls coach didn't flinch.

"(Curry) is the best shooter ever to play this game," he said.

Actually, Hoiberg suggested one player he thought was comparable to Curry - his father, Dell Curry.

"As far as speed, getting the shot off quick, I thought his dad was pretty tough to guard," Hoiberg said. "He could shoot his shot from anywhere."

Butler on Curry:

When it comes to Golden State, all eyes are usually on Steph Curry, beginning with his two-ball dribbling warmup.

"He's a good point guard. Runs his team extremely well. Can really score the ball and facilitate it," Jimmy Butler said Tuesday. "I'm sure everybody wants to see that matchup between him and Derrick (Rose on Wednesday). I want to see it along with the world."

The Bulls didn't have Rose (ankle) when they lost at Golden State 106-94 on Nov. 21. The Bulls are still the last team to beat the Warriors on their home floor in the regular season, which happened last year on Jan. 27. Golden State's 4 losses this season all were on the road.

"Yeah, you have to notice it because they're winning at home and winning on the road," Butler said. "Even the losses that they took, they were down some guys. They still gave themselves a chance to win.

"It's really impressive. They're going to keep winning games because they play basketball the right way. But hopefully they don't win this one."