Cruel twist means fans must sweat out another game

Let’s round off Metropolitan Chicago’s population at 9 million.That translates into as many left ankles, but none will matter more than Derrick Rose#146;s during the next three days.Sports-talk radio will interview orthopedic specialists about his condition. Newspapers will print diagrams of the human ankle. Some anonymous blogger will report that Rose is facing amputation.Seriously, the Bulls#146; point guard likely is the local athlete whose fans say #147;God bless you#148; most quickly whenever he sneezes.So it was time for concern in the first quarter Saturday afternoon when Rose hopped off the Conseco Fieldhouse court like an Easter bunny.Rose returned early in the second quarter and wound up playing a total of 43 minutes, but he didn#146;t look anything like an #147;M-V-P! M-V-P!#148;Though the Pacers won 89-84, the Bulls still lead the NBA East#146;s best-of-seven quarterfinal series 3-1 and are expected to close out the Pacers on Tuesday night in the United Center.Tom Thibodeau said Rose told him the ankle was fine. The Bulls#146; coach added sort of omenously, #147;We#146;ll see.#148;Rose has time to recover completely, even if it takes a witch doctor#146;s touch and North Pole-sized ice bags.#147;There#146;s no excuses ... playoffs,#148; Rose said of his mindset. #147;I sprained my ankle a million times.#148;Interesting this time was that Rose did sprain his ankle. The Pacers didn#146;t sprain it for him by knocking him to the court with a flagrant foul.Ironically, the Pacers lost the series#146; first three games while being more thuggish than physical but won Game 4 by being more physical than thuggish.Rose simply drove toward the basket, slid ever so slightly and the ankle went in another direction. Remarkably, he still lifted off the runway to make the basket before motioning to the bench for relief.The injury might not have been responsible for Rose shooting 6 of 22 from the field, including 1 of 9 from 3-point range, for a mere 15 points.After all, he didn#146;t shoot well in Game 3, either.#147;Of course, when you twist an ankle it slows you down a little bit,#148; Rose said, not meaning it as a reason. #147;My shots were on target, just a little short.#148;After a season of being Mr. Everything for the Bulls, perhaps Rose#146;s legs are a tad tired. Isn#146;t that usually why jumpers hit the front of the rim instead of swishing through the net?An ailing ankle wouldn#146;t figure to help Rose#146;s shot so the Bulls have to hope he pulls a Michael Jordan and either recovers rapidly or uses pain as motivation.Rose said of his brief time in the locker room after the cruel twist, #147;I just wanted to come back quickly. They wanted to sit me down but I didn#146;t want to. The thing was to keep it moving and go back in the game.#148;Much depends now on the next 72 hours, like whether Rose#146;s ankle puffs up or retreats to normal human dimensions.So, will the Bulls close out the Pacers in Game 5 if Rose is less than 100 percent? Possibly. Will they win the series sometime regardless? Probably.But that isn#146;t the point because, as Rose teammate Kyle Korver put it: #147;We want to move forward (through the playoffs).#148;That#146;s why as many as 9 million Chicagoans will experience sympathy pains in the left ankle until Derrick Rose is back to full strength.mimrem@dailyherald.com