RIO DE JANEIRO -- After using Wednesday's light practice to acclimate themselves after the 10-hour flight from Chicago, the Bulls went harder Thursday at the Flamengo Basketball Club.

Still, though, coach Tom Thibodeau said the team did little contact, which places Joakim Noah's chances to make his preseason debut Saturday against the Wizards as questionable. Thibodeau has said he wants Noah to endure contact practices before returning from the sore groin that has sidelined him the first two games.

"We didn’t do a lot of contact," Thibodeau said. "We cleaned things up. We had a good hard practice. We did some contact early on, but most of the practice was timing up the offense. We added a few things and things of that nature."

Noah said he's feeling better. And he moved well during drills that were open to a noticeably slimmed down media presence.

"He's feeling good, did everything," Thibodeau said. "We'll see where he is after (Friday). He's moving pretty well right now."

Thibodeau and the Bulls have embraced what the NBA's first-ever game in South America means. But this remains training camp for both the Bulls and Wizards, which is why minutes won't be increased for starters in just the third preseason game.

"It's important to the league, to our organization, and we have the type of guys who feel like it's an important part of their responsibility," Thibodeau said. "Our guys are heavily involved in the community in Chicago, and this is a chance for us to get out in the community here and do the same thing.

"But we're gradually building up, so nothing is really going to change. We're going to extend the minutes a little bit but still get a look at some guys. It's important for that second unit to develop chemistry, and there are guys on that second unit that will play with the starters. We want to get comfortable at all aspects."

kcjohnson@tribune.com

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