This past Wednesday, the Chicago Bulls (16-9) extended their win streak to seven straight beating the (10-18) Toronto Raptors 110-93 and it looked like the team was beginning to get on a roll.

Even though Derrick Rose was a little banged up and only scored six points, Carlos Boozer took charge and scored a season high 34 points against a depleted Raptors squad.

However, it wasn’t all good news once the players hit the locker room; immediately after the game it was reported that Joakim Noah would miss the next eight to 10 weeks.

Noah had been playing with bruised ligaments in his right hand for at least the past three weeks. After consulting with Bulls management, friends and family, Noah felt surgery was the best option for him to be able to come back and play at a high level.

Lately, Noah’s stats have not reflected those of the first few weeks of the NBA season. In the last 10 games, Noah has averaged 12 points and nine rebounds. Some predicted his numbers would see a drop off once Boozer would be back in the Bulls rotation, but no one could have predicted this kind of decrease.

In October, Noah averaged 16 points and 18 rebounds per game, in November he was putting up 16 points and 13 rebounds per contest. It was obvious that Noah’s wrapped right hand was affecting his play, so 24 hours after the Toronto game, he underwent successful surgery and would be deemed out until March.

With his right hand in a cast, Noah sat on the bench and watched his team get exposed by a bad Los Angeles Clipper (8-21) team in a 100-99 loss on Saturday night, their first in 7 games. ...