Gasol questionable for Game 4
With a short break before the Bulls host Game 4 against Cleveland on Sunday afternoon, this is a good time to ask, "When did the NBA playoffs become such a war of attrition?"
During the Bulls' six championship runs, nobody missed games. Ron Harper skipped two in the 1996 Finals against Seattle. Scottie Pippen had a bad back in the '98 Finals. Michael Jordan was feeling ill during Game 5 at Utah in '97.
How many times did the Bulls run into a team that was missing a starter for an extended period? Did it ever happen?
There are some famous injuries in NBA Finals lore, such as Willis Reed in 1970, Isiah Thomas' sprained ankle in '88, Magic Johnson's hamstring in '89. But not many.
Compare that to the current state of the NBA playoffs: Washington's John Wall has a broken wrist and it's unclear when he'll play again. The Clippers' Chris Paul just missed two games with a hamstring injury. Memphis' Mike Conley missed three games with broken bones in his face.
In the Bulls-Cavs series, Kevin Love is out with a dislocated left shoulder. Cleveland point guard Kyrie Irving has a sore foot and talked after Game 3 about how he can still go out on the floor and be a decoy.
Now there's a new injury for the Bulls - Pau Gasol left Game 3 early with a left hamstring strain and is listed as questionable for Game 4.
The Bulls watched film and shot around on Saturday at the Advocate Center, so there was no formal practice. An MRI exam confirmed the original diagnosis of a hamstring strain for Gasol. He's still sore, according to Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, so there seems to be a real possibility Gasol doesn't play on Sunday.
The encouraging news for the Bulls is they beat Cleveland in Game 3 with Gasol providing just 6 points and 4 rebounds. The Bulls' most successful lineup on Friday was with Taj Gibson and Nikola Mirotic as the big men.
"We don't know the (extent) of his injury yet," Gibson said Saturday. "I hope he'll play, but if not, it's up to us to come together as a team. My energy is going to be the same no matter what."
Mirotic recorded the first double-digit scoring game of his NBA playoff career on Friday. He finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds in 22 minutes of action. At the same time, he would have played more if he didn't pick up 5 fouls.
Mirotic played in the EuroLeague Final Four three times for Real Madrid, so he's used to intense, postseason competition, but the NBA playoffs are something else.
"It's a big difference," Mirotic said. "I was playing in the second quarter (of Game 3), my legs were really tired. You need to push yourself mentally. You need to be ready. But I'm looking forward to keep playing to help the team because it's really fun, especially playing at home."
The Bulls also used a small lineup down the stretch in Game 3, with Gibson the only big man, joining Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Kirk Hinrich and Mike Dunleavy. That's something they've rarely done all season.
Cleveland had a big advantage in 3-point baskets (14 to 6) on Friday, but the Bulls helped make up for it with a 54-39 edge in rebounds. The Bulls won the second-chance points 18-7.
"(Cavs power forward Tristan Thompson), he's a load," Gibson said. "Like I said, it's a man's game. He's real physical down there. I woke up this morning with so many aches I didn't even know I had. It's a real physical game."
Going back to the original question of why there are so many injuries in this year's playoffs, even Thibodeau - who has been coaching in the NBA since 1989 - is a little stumped.
"It's hard to say," he said. "I would want to see what the data says. Back then, guys didn't like to talk about their injuries. It was a different league. If a guy knew you had a bad wrist, they'd go after it. So they didn't talk about it like they do today. Obviously, the media attention wasn't the same either. Now every little injury everyone knows about."
The Cavs have reason to be worried about Irving, who seemed to aggravate his foot injury on Friday and shot 1-for-11 from the field in the second half.
Rose might be the healthiest point guard left in the playoffs. Who saw that coming?
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