Bulls center Gray getting closer to return

DENVER - Bulls center Aaron Gray reappeared Saturday in Denver and could be ready to see game action soon. He has been out since the early days of training camp with a stress fracture in his left fibula.

Coach Vinny Del Negro suggested he'd play Gray against the Nuggets in an extreme emergency. More likely, Gray might be ready for action at the Thanksgiving night game in Utah.

"I'm not 100 percent, but definitely real close," Gray said. "They want me to get through a few full days of practice before there's a chance of me getting in a game."

Gray missed the early part of the road trip when he was hospitalized for an infection in his knee, but he said that wasn't at all traumatic, just precautionary.

"It's been a long time, but I'm ready to get back and play basketball. It makes you appreciate it," he said. "There's a lot of opportunity out there."

JJ closer to home: James Johnson brought a vocal cheering section to the Pepsi Center for Saturday's game. The rookie forward grew up in Cheyenne, Wyo., which is about 100 miles north of Denver.

"My mother's never been to a professional basketball game yet, so this is going to be her first one," Johnson said. "Pretty excited about that. I've never been to a Denver game. It feels real good."

Johnson said the one time he had tickets to a Nuggets game it was postponed due to the tragedy at Columbine High School in 1999.

"I practiced here a couple of times (with AAU teams)," Johnson said. "I like the altitude. It makes you stronger."

Johnson thought his father, Willie, probably closed the family business - J&P's Martial Arts school in Cheyenne.

For the third or fourth time this season, coach Vinny Del Negro mentioned before the game he needs to do a better job finding Johnson some playing time. The No. 16 draft pick logged just less than six minutes and scored 4 points.

Sounds far-fetched: Here's Nuggets coach George Karl on counterpart Vinny Del Negro, whom he coached in Milwaukee for two seasons.

"I think Vinny loved the game, had a passion for the game," Karl said. "I was kind of surprised he became a coach. I didn't know he wanted to get gray hair and lose hair."

Wait a minute. Del Negro has one of the thickest heads of hair in America. Does Karl really think it's going anywhere?

"Just look at President Obama. He's got a lot of gray," Karl said. "I'm not sure we have the same problems he has. (But) stress is stress."

Bull horns: Congratulations to Bulls media-relations assistant Matt Yob, whose wife, Krisha, gave birth to twins Jacob and Ella on Saturday. - Even with Saturday's loss, the Bulls are 6-4 in their last 10 Western Conference road games going back to last season.