Hinrich returns, but Deng suffers setback

The Bulls lost ground again on the injury front Saturday.

Kirk Hinrich returned after missing three games with back spasms, but Luol Deng went back on the shelf after a recurrence of the left Achilles' tendinitis that has bothered him for a few weeks.

Then, Chris Duhon suffered a bruised left knee early in the fourth quarter of the 97-81 victory over the Pistons when he bumped knees with Chauncey Billups.

"His knee went directly into the inside of my knee, and it was just instant pain," Duhon said. "My knee kind of twisted a little bit. I've had knee-to-knee collisions before and it didn't feel like this."

The Bulls took X-rays of the knee, and Duhon was not sure if he will go for an MRI this morning before the team departs for Memphis.

"Nothing's ruled out yet, but we don't believe there's ligament damage," Duhon said. "It hurts. It's tough to put a lot of weight on it. I can put some weight on it, but I pretty much had to sit on the sink the whole time to get dressed."

Day off for Deng: Luol Deng was feeling good until the third quarter of Friday's loss to Golden State, then he struggled to finish the game because of his sore Achilles' tendon.

"It just really flared up," he said. "If you see it, it looks like I sprained my ankle. After (Friday's game) was when it really flared up. I tried icing it all night and the swelling didn't go down.

"It's the fourth game in five nights (Saturday). So instead of doing something stupid, we just think it would be smart to rest it, as much as I want to play."

Deng thinks he will be back on the court by Monday when the Bulls visit Memphis.

Hinrich back in: Kirk Hinrich did not start Saturday's game, but coach Jim Boylan waited only about four minutes before sending him in.

Hinrich missed his first 4 shots before finally tossing in a running lane scoop with 1:12 left in the first half. He finished with 8 points and 3 assists in 26 minutes.

"Before the game, I didn't know how it was going to feel," he said following the contest. "I'm happy with the way it felt, and I'm definitely happy for the win. I felt a lot better in the second half than I did the first half. I feel all right now."

Bull horns: The Bulls improved to 8-11 at home this season. Last year, they were 31-10. … Andres Nocioni had buried 16 of 28 shots from 3-point range over a five-game stretch, then went 1-for-5 on Saturday.