Bulls play it safe with Deng's hamstring
PORTLAND, Ore. - The leg injury suffered by Luol Deng during the shootaround before the game against the Lakers kept him on the sidelines a day later in Portland.
The official explanation given by the team was an abdominal strain, while coach Vinny Del Negro referred to it as a hamstring problem. Deng stayed in the trainer's room before Wednesday's contest, but in Los Angeles called it a muscle injury to his left thigh.
"We've just got to be careful," Del Negro said. "Hamstrings can be difficult."
In Deng's place, Del Negro chose to start Larry Hughes at small forward and give him the defensive assignment of covering Blazers leading scorer Brandon Roy.
"I just thought the matchup was good," Del Negro said. "Roy has given this team some problems in the past. I thought Larry, with his versatility athletically, Larry can get on rolls. I just thought the matchup was right."
Gray starts at center: Another change to the starting lineup on Wednesday was using Aaron Gray at center. Joakim Noah started the previous four games, but he was not particularly productive.
Portland starts 7-foot-1 Joel Przybilla and brings 7-foot Greg Oden off the bench, so it might have more size at center than any team in the league.
Before the game, Vinny Del Negro insisted that Noah's recent performance had nothing to do with the lineup switch. But he said the same thing when Thabo Sefolosha let the starting lineup and he's rarely been seen since.
"It had nothing to do with that," Del Negro said. "We've changed the lineup with injuries and with matchups and how I feel things are going to come together. It's never an easy decision. It's not always the perfect answer. You go with what you think."
Gray has been reasonably productive this season. He's the team leader in rebounds per minutes played.
Oden's numbers up: Portland center Greg Oden had the most productive game of his young career Tuesday, piling up 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 111-106 loss at Golden State.
At the same time, Oden committed 5 turnovers, including 3 in a row late in the game, and he had the lowest plus-minus on the team, at minus-11.
"I put the loss on me," said Oden, the No. 1 pick of the 2007 draft who missed all of last season with a knee injury.
Wise older neighbor: Two days in a row, veteran guard Lindsey Hunter happened to get a locker next to rookie Derrick Rose. Hunter swore it was a coincidence, not a concerted effort to become Rose's mentor.
"I'm just talking to him on occasion," Hunter said. "He's an inquisitive kid, too. There are things he wants to know and when I first got here, he was like, 'If you see anything, let me know.' You welcome that, because before basketball, he's a great person. You want to see guys like that do well and maximize their ability. I think he will."
Bull horns: Lindsey Hunter on getting his fastbreak layup attempt blocked by Lakers guard Jordan Farmar in the fourth quarter of Tuesday's loss: "I didn't even think he was going to block it, so I didn't make an effort to do anything different. If I ever saw him again, I'd probably hit him before I lay it up." ... The Bulls were averaging 22 fouls per game this season, then had 21 at halftime against Portland.