Bulls center Joakim Noah publicly apologized to NBA referee Derrick Collins for disputing a foul call and throwing a ball at Collins, leading to two technical fouls and his ejection from Saturday night's 102-101 victory over the Toronto Raptors at the United Center.

''I just want to apologize to the referee for coming at him like that. I was wrong,'' Noah said after practice Sunday at the Berto Center. ''I was frustrated at the call. I overreacted. And I just hope he reads this and accepts my apology.''

Noah was upset when he was called for a foul against Andrea Bargnani with 1:28 left in the second quarter. After Collins gave Noah a technical foul for arguing the call, Noah threw the ball -- a purposeful chest pass --  across the lane in the direction of Collins. Referee Scott Foster immediately gave Noah a second technical foul and automatic ejection. A frustrated Noah directed foul language in the direction of all the officials as he left the court.

The ever-resourceful Bulls pulled off an escape act Saturday night that will be hard to top. Luol Deng's tip-in of a deflected C.J. Watson shot barely beat the buzzer to give the Bulls a 101-100 overtime victory over the lowly Toronto Raptors.

But while Deng's shot sent the sellout crowd at the United Center into a frenzy and the Bulls celebrated as if they had won the NCAA title, coach Tom Thibodeau was not about to let winning cure all.

Three days after the Bulls played down to the Raptors' level before rallying in the fourth quarter to win in Toronto, they were even more lackadaisical at the United Center. They shot 3-of-23 from three-point range. They were out rebounded 58-44. Joakim Noah was ejected late in the first half when he was called for two technical fouls for arguing a personal foul called against him. And that's just off the top of my head.

In his own measured way, Thibodeau made his unhappiness very clear. He was so upset it sounded as if he had forgotten his team won the game.

Point guard Derrick Rose (groin) and shooting guard Richard Hamilton (shoulder) will not play Saturday night against the Toronto Raptors, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Rose will be missing his sixth consecutive game. Hamilton will be out for the 11th straight game. C.J. Watson will start for Rose. Ronnie Brewer will start for Hamilton.

Though technically ''day-to-day,'' neither Rose nor Hamilton is expected back soon.

Rose has been participating in shooting drills but is just now starting to run again. The next step is ''to be able to complete practice,'' Thibodeau said prior to the game against the Raptors. ''He's doing the shooting. Just step by sep. But we want to make sure he's completely healthy before we move forward.''

Derrick Rose and Richard Hamilton both are making progress in their recovery from injuries. But don't expect them in the lineup too soon.

Rose, who has missed the last five games because of a groin injury, practiced on a limited basis Friday at the Berto Center, but it seemed more like the first step toward returning to the court than the last. He still is not running on the court, though he was draining open three-pointers in an "around-the-horn" shooting drill after practice.

''Derrick was better today. He did part of practice,'' Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. ''We just have to have him keep making progress and hopefully he'll be healthy soon.''

The size advantage the Bulls have had against the Heat was addressed when Miami signed forward/center Ronny Turiaf, according to multiple reports.

The 6-foot-10 Turiaf played in only four games for Washington this season because of a broken hand. He was traded to the Nuggets Monday and then released.

"He's a great defensive player and somebody who's also very underrated offensively," Joakim Noah said of Turiaf. "He can shoot a little bit, can finish well at the rim. Whoever picks him up is definitely going to get a great addition."

Luol Deng was in the locker room after the game with a huge bag of ice wrapped around his left wrist.

"The wrist is still here," Deng said. "It's up an down but I'm finding way to be effective out there."

Deng tore a ligament in his left wrist earlier this season. Watson has also been playing with twisted ankle.

"I like the mental toughness that Luol has shown," Thibodeau said. Same thing with C.J. They've shown us that they can play well, even when they're nicked up and I think that's the important mentality to have, is to know that whatever amount of hurting you have going on."

C.J. Watson missed all eight of his shots from the floor in Monday night's 85-59 wipeout of the Magic in Orlando but that doesn't mean he played a lousy game, according to Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau.

"I don't necessarily judge him by his shots," Thibodeau said of Watson. "I measure him more on how he runs the team and how the team functioning and how he's playing defense. He can play well when he doesn't shoot well. That's what he did in that game."

The Bulls are 11-4 without MVP Derrick Rose heading after Wednesday night's come-from-behind win over the Raptors, which says a lot about their depth at point guard. John Lucas III sparked the Bulls fourth-quarter run ad finished with 13 points while Watson had 15.

"C.J. has played very well for us whenever he has started," Thibodeau said. "He's been solid. John has been terrific. The bench has been very good. Then our starters have done a good job."

The Bulls will need continued solid play from Watson, Lucas III and James because Rose may not return from a strained groin for several more days, if not longer.

The Bulls' MVP point guard is still walking gingerly at Air Canada Centre during Wednesday morning's shootaround. He has began working out in water and has done some shooting but little else. It was his fifth-straight missed game and 15th overall this season.

"He's doing more and more," Thibodeau said. "He's doing some shooting. He's in the pool. He's moving along."

ORLANDO, Fla. --- Stan Van Gundy wasn't overly relieved to know that Derrick Rose wouldn't play against the Magic on Monday night, which says a lot about how backups C.J. Watson and John Lucas III have played in his absence this season.

"They've just beaten Philly an Miami without Derrick Rose so we certainly can't expect anything other than a great opponent out there tonight. They've played really well without him. They really have. Their point guards have done a good job, Watson and Lucas. They've different. They're not the attackers [Rose] is but they can both shoot the hell out of the ball and make plays on pick and rolls.

"[Carlos] Boozer has been tremendous, so has Deng, they run more catch-and-shoot for Kyle Korver. They find their way around it and base their game on what they do on the defensive end anyway. Their defense, more than anything, is based around [Luol] Deng and their bigs, their front-line guys, so their defense doesn't really suffer at all."

With Rose out for a fourth straight game because of a groin injury, Watson started. He had 20 points in Saturday night's win over the 76ers at the United Center despite a twisted ankle that has robbed him of his quickness and mobility. Lucas scored 24 points in a win over Miami last week.

"If he wasn't capable of playing we wouldn't be playing him," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said of Watson. "He's nicked up. He's playing through it, which we certainly respect."

Expect Derrick Rose to miss tonight's game and the Magic in Orlando at the very least. The Bulls star said he's not sure when he'll be able to return from a groin injury.

"They haven't given me a time," Rose said. "With an injury like this, you don't know how long it's going to take. I thought I would be back sooner. I've missed some big games that I hate to miss, like the one tonight. I've got to worry about my health."

Rose said he strained his groin late in the first quarter of a win over the Knicks on March 12. Jeremy Lin blocked his fast-break layup attempt from behind on the play. Rose said he remained in the game after feeling the initial pull and may have made the injury worse.

"In the New York [game], when I went to the hole, I took off kind of wrong and Jeremy [Lin] beat my shot. I thought I was going to take off but I couldn't get up that high. I just felt the pull. I thought it was like a charley horse or something. When I went down I tried to stretch out but there was pain there. Usually, when you have a charley horse it's just tight. There was pain but I wanted to play through it. I played through it but I think it made it worse."

Rose said he hasn't been able to run or shoot since the injury.

"You don't want this to linger," he said. "I can't move right now. Every day it's definitely getting better but I haven't been able to run in a couple days."

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau still considers Rose "day-to-day," although week to week may be a more accurate description of his status.

"It could be a few days," Thibodeau said. "It could be ... who knows? We just want him to make progress. When he's healthy he's healthy. We're not going to rush him back. We want him to be completely healthy. We think that's important."

Rose hasn't spoken to the media since critical comments about the officiating against the Knicks resulted in him being fined $25,000 by the league. Rose has been frustrated at times this season because he doesn't believe he's getting the calls he should when he attacks the rim.

When asked if he regretted his comments, Rose said, "I thought they were facts." Then, he added: "Losing 25 K definitely hurts. I don't care who you are, it hurts. I was just frustrated at the time. I couldn't hold myself back from saying what I said."

Rose said he's going to continue to attack and is hopeful that he'll get more calls in the future. He said because he has been so quiet for the first three-plus years of his career people are surprised when he does speak his mind.

"They still look at me like a little kid or, I don't know how you say it, like a demigod or something. I can't say anything."

Tom Thibodeau was critical of his team's preparation after Friday night's loss to Portland but said it was much improved Saturday.

"There's a lot of frustration," Thibodeau said, referring to the loss to the Blazers. "We didn't play well. You start there. We've got to get back to getting ready the right way and everybody doing their job. Right now, it's a lot of games in a short amout of time. There's not a lot of practice. You have to make your corrections in your walkthroughs, in your film sessions.

"Everyone on our team has good intentions. We're going about it the wrong way. Part of it is when things aren't going well we're trying to do much individually offensively, but that's also leading to frustration on defense. Our help isn't what it should be. Our on-the-ball technique isn't what it should be. We can't do that. We have to do things collectively both offensively and defensively. We can't get frustrated. There are going to be ups an downs and we have to work through things. For the most part we've done that and we need to get back to that."

Thibodeau was asked if his team settled for too many jump shots Friday.

"We're an inside-out team," Thibodeau said. "The ball has to get into the paint whether it's through the post or dribble penetration. In the fourth quarter we struggled to score. I don't mind the threes when it's inside out."