Noah jokes about winning for Vinny

Things were relatively quiet at the Berto Center after Tuesday’s practice.

Joakim Noah livened things up by grunting through an extra 15 minutes of cardio workouts, sprinting repeatedly up and down the court, sometimes dribbling a ball along the way.

Once Noah sat down and caught his breath, he offered an interesting take on coach Vinny Del Negro’s ejection in the third quarter of Monday’s 98-88 win over Houston.

“Just try to win it for Vinny, man,” Noah said, using a mock intense voice. “Kirky (Hinrich, presumably) said that on the court yesterday and everybody just started laughing. I thought it was pretty funny. ‘Come on guys, let’s do it for Vinny.’ I thought that was pretty funny.”

Obviously, Noah is feeling better. He played 9 minutes on Saturday in Philadelphia and 12 minutes Monday against Houston. With a couple days off to improve his conditioning, it stands to reason his playing time will increase more than just two minutes on Thursday when Miami visits the United Center.

“They want to play me three segments instead of two,” he said. “That’s encouraging. … I think I can play more, but it’s also a question of being effective on the court.

“I’m not in pain out there, so that feels good. It’s just a question of getting my confidence back to go and get those blocks and rebounds. I’m feeling better and better the more minutes I get.”

Brad Miller and Taj Gibson sat out practice, just to get some extra rest. Luol Deng wasn’t around and will miss at least another week with a right calf strain.