Boos don't faze Hughes

Bulls guard Larry Hughes was booed when he entered Friday's game against Washington. Then he had a stretch early in the second quarter where he took 6 shots, plus 2 free throws, in nine Bulls possessions.

But when it was all said and done, Hughes had a decent night, finishing with 17 points off the bench and hitting 6 of 12 shots from the field.

"The same people that boo, (they) cheer when I make a shot," Hughes said. "That's fine. Obviously, the fans read the papers and things like that and they want to support the team. Whatever's been going on, they read and feed into it. But as long as I have a Bulls uniform on, I'm out to go out there and play hard and try to get a 'W.' "

Hughes has recently been the subject of trade speculation, especially since Kirk Hinrich is set to return from a thumb injury soon and Hughes has been lobbying for more minutes ever since he joined the team last February in the Ben Wallace trade.

"I understand the business," Hughes added. "I understand how this league works and I understand it's not always personal. Things just don't always work. The main thing is to play basketball. That's what I get paid to do. Once it's time to play, everything else has to wait."

Deng eyes Monday return: Luol Deng did not suit up for Friday's win over Washington, but thinks he might return from a sprained left ankle on Monday against Portland.

Before the game, Deng had more on his mind than getting healthy. He took exception to a newspaper headline suggesting he wasn't planning to play until the ankle is 100 percent healthy.

"If I feel like I'm capable of helping the team, then I would do it," he said. "When I said I'm going to wait until I was 100 percent, I didn't mean 100 percent exactly.

"I didn't say I was going to wait until I'm 100 percent; I just meant when I'm able to play out there and do something. I think everyone knows if I could go out there, I'd do it. In the past, I had times when I came back early and it kind of affected something else."

Bull horns: Center Aaron Gray was replaced in the starting lineup Friday by Drew Gooden and didn't play at all against the Wizards. ... An interesting sight at the end of Thursday's practice was Gray showing off his soccer skills for Derrick Rose by juggling a basketball with his head and feet. Rose tried to replicate some of the footwork, but quickly gave up.

World of Wizards: Washington didn't attempt a single free throw in the first half on Friday. Dominic McGuire finally got to the foul line 34 seconds into the third quarter. ... Wizards forward Darius Songaila took an elbow to the throat from Orlando's Dwight Howard on Tuesday and had a hard time speaking for a few days, but played 19 minutes against the Bulls.