Taj Gibson
walked into the Bulls’ locker room Tuesday night wearing a leg brace and a scowl.
“I was pissed because I always want to be the guy who can go 82 games every year,” Gibson said, when asked his reaction to spraining the MCL in his left knee.
Gibson sat for the first time this season and just the sixth in his three-plus seasons in Chicago. Coach
Tom Thibodeau
confirmed a Tribune report that Gibson is expected to miss around two weeks.
“Knowing me, I’m going to try to push it,” Gibson said in his first comments since suffering the injury Sunday at Oklahoma City. “But I have to follow the doctors and follow my body. I never felt any pain like that before.”
Gibson said his left leg buckled and bent inward when he landed on
Reggie Jackson’s
foot as Gibson descended from a blocked shot attempt.
“I take good care of my body,” he said. “It’s just one of those things that happens, stepping on somebody else’s foot. I really feel what
Derrick (Rose)
goes through and I have nowhere near anything what Derrick has.”
In fact, Rose and Gibson talked about left knee injuries as they sat getting treatment together.
“He just said, ‘What you’re going through, imagine 100 times worse,'” Gibson said.
Point, counterpoint:
Thibodeau classified Rose’s status as “just daily improvement.”
Nate Robinson
termed it as “every day he gets better and stronger.” Rose has said the decision on his return is up to him.
Regardless, both Rose and
Kyrie Irving
sitting meant another game in which the top point guards missed each other. During the seven Bulls-Cavaliers games since Irving entered the league last year, the two have yet to face each other.
“It’s unfortunate,” Cavaliers coach
Byron Scott
said. “I love Derrick Rose just as a person. He’s an unbelievable basketball player, but he’s one of our best people in this league. Talk about humble and a guy about all the right stuff. … I hope he comes back 110 percent and these two guys will be able to get it on sometime next season.”
Final point:
Kirk Hinrich
returned after missing three straight and 10 of the previous 11 games with right elbow issues. Robinson returned to his reserve role, fully aware of what Hinrich brings.
“Leadership,” Robinson said. “Kirk is the captain of our team, especially the guards. He brings a lot of fight and plays hard. He makes no excuses and does his job.”
Layups:
The Bulls’ 29.1 percent shooting Sunday against the Thunder marked their lowest performance in nine seasons. On the flip side, their 63.8 percent shooting in their 26-point victory over these Cavaliers on Jan. 7 remains an NBA-season-best thus far. … The Bulls rank second behind the Hawks with assists on 64.4 percent of their field goals.
