Injured Rose sits; wrist sprained
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MIAMI – Add Derrick Rose to what’s nearly become an epidemic of medical problems for the Bulls, all coming at the worst possible time of the season.
Rose was held out of the Bulls’ game Friday in Miami because of a sprained left wrist, suffered the previous night in a collision with Orlando center Dwight Howard. The Bulls – who are fighting, among others, the Heat for an Eastern Conference playoff spot – hope the All-Star point guard can return for their next game, Tuesday at Memphis.
“I know his wrist is really sore,” Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. “We’ll see how it reacts to the treatment and give him a few days rest.”
If there was any good news for the Bulls on Friday regarding Rose, who leads the team with 20.4 points and 5.7 assists a game, it was this: An MRI exam confirmed that it was only a sprain.
Still, he was added to a long list of ailing Bulls, joining other starters Luol Deng and Joakim Noah – who, after Rose, are second and third respectively on the Bulls’ scoring list this season. Noah has plantar fasciitis in his left foot and could resume working out some time in the next few days. Deng has a strained right calf, and also has battled left knee pain in recent days.
That means the Bulls faced Miami – which started Friday 1½ games ahead of the Bulls – with 49.1 points of scoring average sidelined by injury. The top scorer in the Bulls’ lineup against the Heat was Kirk Hinrich, who came in averaging 10.5 points.
“Things are out of our control,” Del Negro said. “The injuries you can’t control. The schedule you can’t control. You just can control your effort, your preparation. Guys have to play hard. I expect us to come out and fight and battle and do whatever we can. Guys have to make plays.”
That’s what Rose was trying to do when he got hurt, forcing him out of the lineup for the first time this season.
Rose drove the lane in the final minute of the first quarter on Thursday night, leaped and collided into Howard, falling awkwardly to the floor and harkening images of when the two had another midair meeting in a Feb. 10 game.
Howard was called for a foul on the play Thursday, and Del Negro said he did not believe the Magic center did anything intentionally or out of malice.
“I think they just got caught in the air again,” Del Negro said. “The wrist is the most dangerous when you’re up that high, because you’re falling, trying to catch yourself and your arms usually get caught underneath you. That’s what happened a little bit.”
