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Bulls center Joakim Noah will miss Tuesday’s game against the Washington Wizards due to flu-like symptoms. Forward Carlos Boozer will also be sidelined for a third consecutive game with a sprained left ankle suffered during last Wednesday’s win in Charlotte.

Taj Gibson will step in and start for Noah. Kurt Thomas will also start again in Boozer’s absence for the Bulls, who have won 11 straight games at the United Center and 13 of 15 games overall.

Noah came to the Berto Center for Tuesday morning’s shootaround, but was sent home to rest and had been listed as questionable.

“He’s just not feeling well,” said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau prior to the game. “He came in and wasn’t feeling better this morning. Hopefully he’s feeling better tomorrow.”

While Thibodeau didn’t say whether Boozer and Noah will travel with the team this week when the Bulls play in New Jersey on Thursday and Indiana on Friday, both players seem like they’ll be back in action sooner than later.

Following Tuesday’s morning shootaround, Thibodeau told reporters that Boozer’s condition continues to improve.

“The swelling’s almost gone,” said Thibodeau of Boozer. “He’s doing more and more each day. But we want to be smart about it. We want to make sure he’s completely ready to go.”

It is possible Boozer could be ready to play as early as Thursday against the Nets.

“He’s that close,” Thibodeau said. “It’s any day, so but again, we don’t want the [injury] to be reoccurring. We want to make sure he strengthens the ankle enough and everything’s good. And he’s doing great.”

Bulls go green for St. Patrick’s Day

The Bulls will wear green adidas uniforms in honor of the St. Patrick’s Day when they host the Wizards on Tuesday night. In keeping with the tradition, the Bulls logo on the shorts and the back of the jersey will remain in the traditional red and black. A commemorative St. Patrick’s Day patch will highlight the bottom of the jersey.

Winning against winners

At 21-9, Chicago is one of seven teams in the NBA that owns a winning record against teams that are .500 or better (records as of March 13).

CHICAGO 21-9 (.700)
L.A. Lakers 25-12 (.676)
San Antonio 22-11 (.667)
Boston 18-9 (.667)
Dallas 23-12 (.657)
New Orleans 18-16 (.529)
Oklahoma City 17-16 (.515)

Bulls vs. Wizards season notes

Chicago is 3-0 this year against the Wizards, winning each game by an average 14.3 ppg … with their win at Washington on Feb. 28, the Bulls won the season series versus the Wizards for the third straight year … in their first meeting this season, three Bulls players tallied 20 or more points (Rose-24, Noah-21, Deng-20) in Chicago’s 103-96 victory … former Bull Kirk Hinrich posted eight points and six assists, while Gilbert Arenas tallied 30 points off the bench … Chicago is 7-2 versus Washington in the last nine contests between the two teams … Derrick Rose led the Bulls in scoring every game last year against Washington, including a then career-high 37 points in Chicago’s 121-119 double overtime win on Jan. 15 … last season against Washington, Rose averaged 27.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 5.7 apg and 43.3 mpg … Chicago has won 13 of its last 19 meetings against Washington and 10 of the last 12 in the Windy City … Chicago is 37-57 all-time against the Wizards in Washington … the Bulls last swept the season series with the Wizards in 1995-96 (4-0), while Washington has not swept the Bulls in a season series since 1979-80 (2-0) … in the 2006-07 series finale, the Bulls defeated the Wizards 101-68 for their largest margin of victory over Washington in series history (33 points) … in the team’s three meetings last year, Chicago outscored the Wizards 103.7 ppg to 102.3 ppg.