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Gibson sits out, feels he played better with Rondo

Taj Gibson sat out Sunday's game against Philadelphia to rest a sore left ankle. He said he got a cortisone shot in the ankle and it's still sore.

This is the second game Gibson has missed with the ankle injury in the past two weeks. He also sat out the Jan. 17 loss to Dallas. The Chicago Bulls are hoping he will be ready to play Wednesday when the ice-show road trip begins in Oklahoma City.

Gibson's stats have been down compared to the start of the season. Instead of blaming the sore ankle, Gibson had another theory.

"I was feeling right, but you have to look at different lineup changes," Gibson said before Sunday's game. "I was playing with (Rajon) Rondo most of the time. Rondo was giving a lot of assists. He was dishing, but just have to work through it."

Here are the numbers: Before Dec. 30, Gibson averaged 12.1 points and shot 53.5 percent from the field. Since Dec. 31, when Rondo was removed from the starting lineup, Gibson is at 10.5 points and 45.3 percent shooting.

Denzel makes eight:

Rookie Denzel Valentine made the most of his trip to Hoffman Estates to play for the D-League's Windy City Bulls on Saturday. He hoisted 14 attempts from 3-point range, made 8 and scored 24 points.

Would Michigan State coach Tom Izzo have given him the freedom to shoot 14 shots from long range?

"Oh, yeah. I might have got that many up last year in a game," Valentine said with a laugh. 'I don't know if I made eight, but I might have got them up last year."

A check of the numbers shows Valentine's season high for 3-point attempts last year at MSU was 12. He did that twice, making 7 of 12 against Boise State.

"He started out a little sluggish, from talking to (Windy City coach) Nate (Loenser)," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "Finished the game very well, shot the ball really well as the game went on.

"All of his points were behind the arc. It was good for him to get out there and blow out his lungs a little bit and get some conditioning, get some timing on the floor. Hopefully we'll have him back here and when he gets his opportunity he'll take advantage of it."

Grant searches for shot:

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg talked about the decision to keep using Jerian Grant as the starting point guard. In three games since making the switch from Michael Carter-Williams, the Bulls were 1-2 with Grant hitting just 2 of 10 shots from 3-point range.

"We want to continue to give him a chance. He's had some shots that have gone in and out," Hoiberg said of Grant. "He's got to continue to step up with confidence and shoot those. That's why he's out there with that first group, to space the floor.

"That's the biggest thing with Jerian right now is to keep playing with confidence. He's a guy that can make shots, and he's also a guy that can play in a pick-and-roll. So we feel at the current time he fits with the guys that are out there."

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