Lopsided loss means little playing for Noah

Coach Vinny Del Negro's plan to spend most of Joakim Noah's allotted minutes late in the game didn't work out so well. By the time Noah checked in at the 8:55 mark of the second quarter, the Bulls already trailed Miami by 17.

Overall, Noah played just more than 10 minutes - less than the originally planned 15 minutes - and finished with a futile 4 points and 2 rebounds.

Asked before the game if he'd considered playing Noah the first five minutes of the game, Del Negro said that wasn't in the plans.

"No starting for him, because the minutes are so limited," Del Negro said. "Fifteen minutes are not a lot of minutes. So I want to use him hopefully in the third and fourth quarter, try to give him the bulk of the minutes there because he makes such a difference with rebounding, getting us out in the open court with his energy and things."

Del Negro suggested late-game minutes would be better for Noah's energy level because there are typically more timeouts and more opportunities to get some rest.

"When he gets fatigued is when his stride and his gait get a little bit different and that's when he can reinjure his foot," Del Negro said. "So we want to monitor that and make sure he continues on the right path. There haven't been any ill effects or setbacks, which has been great."

J.J. catches up: James Johnson might have set a record for fastest turnover at the start of a game. He caught the opening tip, then immediately threw the ball into the arms of Miami guard Carlos Arroyo.

The rookie from Wake Forest has started seven of the last eight contests in place of the injured Luol Deng (right-calf strain). As a starter, Johnson was averaging 11.0 points and 4.7 rebounds, while shooting 58.5 percent, heading into Thursday's action.

"The beginning of games are so much faster when everybody has their energy, everybody has their first wind and it's just back and forth, back and forth," Johnson said.

"It seems way faster than what I've been used to before. Now it's kind of slowed down a little bit for me, but it still takes some time to get used to."

Thursday was far from Johnson's best performance. After leaving the floor briefly in the first half because of a right-foot strain, Johnson finished with 6 points and 5 rebounds against Miami, hitting 3 of 9 shots.

Let's play two: Bulls guard Acie Law is the great nephew of Cubs legend Ernie Banks. "Mr. Cub" sat courtside at Thursday's game.

A Dallas native, Law never played baseball and didn't see much of Banks growing up. His maternal grandmother is Banks' sister.