Bulls' guard Kirk Hinrich has confirmed coach Vinny Del Negro's disclosure that he is two to three weeks away from returning from right thumb surgery.

"That's what we're hoping for," Hinrich said. "So far I'm ahead of schedule. It just keeps getting stronger. I've been able to handle the ball and shoot. It's just a matter of picking the right time to let me start shooting around and full contact and stuff like that."

If Hinrich were to return in mid-January, he would far surpass Chicago's original prognosis of mid-February.

Chicago could get point guard Kirk Hinrich back in two-to-three weeks, much earlier than the team originally projected.

"I'm being very optimistic," Coach Vinny Del Negro, who let the news slip, said. "The sooner, the better for me. Kirk's been running a little bit. But we're going to be cautious."

Hinrich, who wasn't supposed to return until mid-February, has been sidelined since right thumb surgery on Nov. 11.

Chicago forward Luol Deng sprained his left ankle against Miami on Friday and is expected to miss 1-2 weeks of action.

An MRI confirmed nothing more than a sprained ligament.

"I'm a lot happier," Deng said. "I was worried about it. But [they] did an X-ray, MRI, and CAT scan just to make sure. And it's just a sprained ligament. I still think probably a week, maybe two weeks, somewhere between there. The swelling is a lot better [Saturday than Friday]. It feels a lot better."

Bulls' coach Vinny Del Negro was more optimistic, saying he hoped Deng could return in "three to seven" days.

Larry Hughes has spoken out for the second time in five weeks about his minutes with the Bulls, the Chicago Tribune is reporting.

"I don't accept it, but I deal with it," Hughes, who is averaging 26 minutes a game, said Saturday night.

When Hughes last spoke out Nov. 18 in Los Angeles, it prompted a meeting among himself, coach Vinny Del Negro, and GM John Paxson.

"I've said what I needed to say," Hughes said. "Hopefully, it gets better moving forward. If it's justified, it's justified. But you can look at whatever you need to look at as far as production. I think it's in my favor."

"I'm not a spot-minute guy. I don't play well in that situation. If you want me to produce, I have to be out there. I can make a difference at both ends if I play."

Ben Gordon was was 6-of-8 behind the arc to pass Scottie Pippen and become the Bulls? career leader in 3-pointers on Saturday night against Atlanta, the Associated Press is reporting.

Pippen made 664 3-pointers in 856 games with the Bulls. Gordon, playing in his 346th game for Chicago, passed Pippen in the first quarter and now has 669 3-pointers.

The Bulls are expected to be without three starters for at least the next few days, with Luol Deng the latest to join the walking wounded in Chicago, the Daily Herald is reporting.

Deng sprained his ankle during the third quarter against Miami on Friday night.

"From the looks of it, it's going to be more than a week," Deng said after the game. "It could be two weeks, maybe more. It's just my ankle is really swollen."

While the game was already on ice, a Miami time-out by coach Erik Spoelstra with 30.9 seconds to go in the game has been received as an insult by the Chicago Bulls, the Associated Press is reporting.

"That upset the team. They hit our pride," Bulls' forward Andres Nocioni said. "There was nothing good about calling that timeout. I feel it was out of place. That is something only done to disrespect the opponent."

"I wasn't clearly doing anything to show anybody up," said Spoelstra, who added that he thought some Chicago players were waiting to get into the game when he called the time-out.

Replays showed there were no Bulls at the scorer's table waiting to sub in for other players with 30.9 seconds left although it wasn't clear if any were summoned back to the bench in the final moments. The Bulls did not make any changes during that time-out.

"There is no excuse or motive to call a late timeout with 25 seconds left and the game already decided," Nocioni said.

Spoelstra said he was made aware of the Bulls' unhappiness with the timeout when he saw some Chicago coaches pointing angrily at the Heat bench and assistant coach Ron Rothstein.

"If they want to make a big deal about it, whatever," Spoelstra said. "It's a pretty normal thing. I was perplexed by that, to be honest."

The Chicago Bulls are already short handed, and matters did not improve in their game in Miami when they lost forward Luol Deng to an ankle sprain.

Deng could not put any weight on his leg and had to be helped from the court.  He did not return.

The Bulls led the Heat for most of the game but could not maintain their lead and were eventually overrun in the fourth quarter, losing 90-77.

Bulls rookie guard Derrick Rose is hoping to get a call to star in a main-stream commercial like the NBA's greatest stars.

"I hope it's coming someday," Rose said Thursday. "If anybody calls and I like doing it, for sure I'm going to take it. I've just got to continue to work hard and play aggressive when I'm on the court. We've got to win games for that to happen."

Spike Lee, according to Page 6 of the New York Post, was overheard "discussing his upcoming project, a documentary on the life of Michael Jordan," during a birthday dinner for Aymeric Clemente at West 13th Street eatery Bagatelle the other night.