Noah, James both expected to play in Miami

January 4, 2013, 11:48 am

	AGGREY SAM E-mail Aggrey | Archive
Follow @CSNBullsInsider

MIAMI — After missing Wednesday night's road win at Orlando with flu-like symptoms, Bulls center Joakim Noah said that he will play in Friday night’s showdown against the defending-champion Heat.

“I feel pretty good,” Noah said after undergoing an individual workout with Bulls assistant coach Andy Greer at American Airlines Arena, prior to the team’s morning shootaround. “The holidays, people come to town, you get all kinds of germs in your house.”

Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau was cautiously optimistic about Noah’s status.

“Hopefully,” the coach said. “We’ll see how he feels tonight.”

For Miami, LeBron James is expected to play, despite having a knee injury, according to Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra.

“You never know. I didn’t want to come in assuming. He’s had a couple knick-knack injuries that would probably be bigger injuries for other people the way he’s been hit, but because he’s so sturdy and strong, he’s been able to absorb that type of contact,” Spoelstra said about the reigning MVP, noting that the entire team participated in the Heat’s morning shootaround and that he believed all of them would play in the evening’s contest. “But he was able to go through the shootaround today — it wasn’t a walk-through, it was a shootaround — so that was encouraging.”

Countered James: “‘Spo’ always thinks I’m okay. It’s always the same with ‘Spo.’ He doesn’t see injury at all.”

“It’s been better,” he continued. “Try to get into the training room, get some more work done on it and hopefully by tonight, I can be out there for my guys.”

Tags: LeBron James, Chicago Bulls, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Miami Heat