Bulls’ Joakim Noah leaves game with shoulder sprain

Bulls center Joakim Noah left Monday’s game against the Nets with a shoulder injury.

Bulls center Joakim Noah left Monday’s game against the Nets with a shoulder injury and did not return.

Head coach Fred Hoiberg announced after the game that Noah had a shoulder sprain. Noah told reporters that he heard his shoulder pop out of its socket and that X-rays came back negative. He’ll have an MRI on Tuesday.

Noah was injured late in the third quarter while trying to strip the ball from Nets forward Andrea Bargnani. He immediately ran off the court and into the tunnel to the locker room, apparently in significant pain.

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Noah has played in 25 of Chicago’s 26 games this season and is second on the team with 8.9 rebounds per game. He averages the sixth-most minutes played on the team. 

- Dan Gartland