Bulls playing short-handed

The Bulls will be missing yet another player when they host the Miami Heat tonight.

Center Ben Wallace was not with the team at Wednesday's practice because of a death in the family and will not play tonight.

The Bulls were already expecting to be without Ben Gordon (sprained right wrist) and Luol Deng (left Achilles' tendinitis).

Gordon wore running shoes to practice Wednesday and concentrated on conditioning while resting the injured wrist. Deng shot some jumpers, but he has yet to do any full-speed running on the court.

"I know he's been on the (weightless) treadmill that we have and he's done a lot of work in the pool," Bulls coach Jim Boylan said. "But he's ready to move it up another notch. He's been cleared by the doctors to start doing that. So he will do that over the all-star break, and we're hoping for the best."

Gordon is planning to be back after the break when the Bulls visit New Jersey, but Deng is not ready to make any predictions.

"I have no idea," Deng said. "It's hard to tell right now. It's getting better. We've just got to take it step by step."

Thabo Sefolosha also skipped Wednesday's practice to rest a sore groin but should play tonight.

Marion in Miami: Tonight's game will be Miami's third since adding Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks from Phoenix in the unexpected trade of Shaquille O'Neal. Marion has averaged 19 points and 16 rebounds in his first two Heat appearances.

Marion, who grew up in North Chicago, was the last player on the Suns' roster who was there when Scott Skiles was head coach and Jim Boylan an assistant.

"Shawn is a guy you don't really need to do anything for," Boylan said. "You don't need to run plays for him. He finds a way to score in the flow of the game. He has an incredible amount of energy out there and he has an incredible amount of energy when he walks into a practice facility."

A challenge for Thabo: One interesting piece of strategy from Tuesday's 100-86 loss to New Orleans was using 6-foot-7 Thabo Sefolosha to guard Hornets point guard Chris Paul for much of the game.

The move can't be judged as too much of a success, since Paul finished with 25 points and 14 assists, though Sefolosha is far from the first player who's had trouble defending the all-star guard.

"Thabo's length affected him a little bit," Jim Boylan said. "But I don't think anybody can really contain Chris Paul. I haven't seen anybody this year really do a job on him. He's just relentless. Thabo's defense I thought was adequate. (Paul) is just a really tough player."

Bull horns: Ben Wallace grabbed 16 rebounds in the loss to New Orleans. That was his second-highest total of the season, trailing the 19 he pulled down against Charlotte on Dec. 1. … Andres Nocioni has hit 13 of 26 shots from 3-point range in the last five games.

Tonight's tipoff

Bulls vs. Miami Heat at the United Center, 7 p.m.

TV: TNT

Radio: WMVP 1000-AM

Update: In his first two games with Miami, former Phoenix forward Shawn Marion has averaged 19 points and 16 rebounds. All-star starter Dwyane Wade is averaging 24.2 points and 7.0 assists. But the Heat (9-40) has lost 23 of its last 24 games and owns the NBA's worst record. This is Miami's only visit to Chicago this season.

Series history: Including last year's playoff sweep, the Bulls have won eight of their last nine games against the Heat. The most recent was a 126-96 romp at Miami on Jan. 16.

Next: New Jersey Nets at the Izod Center, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday

-- Mike McGraw