Howard injures Bulls' guard again during Magic's rout
Maybe Derrick Rose should reconsider his friendship with Orlando center Dwight Howard.
The two young stars supposedly bonded last summer during a promotional tour of China. But on Thursday night in Orlando, Howard knocked Rose out of the game with a hard foul for the second time in as many meetings.
This time, Rose drove the right side of the lane with about a minute left in the first quarter. Howard threw his body into Rose, causing a violent collision and when the Bulls' guard hit the floor, he was clutching his left wrist in pain. He played through the end of the quarter, then went to the locker room and didn't return.
Without Rose, forward Luol Deng (right calf strain) and center Joakim Noah (sore left foot), the Bulls were trounced 111-82 at Amway Arena.
The major question as the short-handed Bulls search for an end to their six-game losing streak is whether Rose will miss significant time. His status for tonight's game in Miami is uncertain.
The last time the Bulls faced the Magic on Feb. 10 at the United Center, Rose was knocked out of the game within three minutes. He drove to the basket, was fouled hard by Howard and fell flat on his back.
On that night, Rose suffered a hip injury and left the game after shooting the resulting free throw. The setback caused him to miss the skills contest during all-star weekend, but thanks to the break, Rose didn't miss any other games.
The Bulls need all the help they can get right now. Noah is expected to be out for at least another week or two, and Deng's best-case scenario is missing two games. He seems questionable at best for the second leg of this four-game road trip in Memphis and Dallas next week.
With Rose, Deng and Noah all sidelined, the Bulls (31-33) are without their top two scorers and top two rebounders.
The only good news was power forward Taj Gibson was able to play through painful plantar fasciitis in his left foot to finish with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Rookie James Johnson, getting his second start in place of Deng, led the Bulls with 13 points. Vince Carter led Orlando (46-20) with 23 points.
The game was already getting out of hand when Rose had to leave. The visitors trailed 28-17 at the end of the first quarter and were barely hanging on, down 45-30, midway through the second quarter. The Bulls finished the first half by missing their last 9 shots from the field, the Magic went on a 20-3 run and led 65-33 at intermission.
Another meaningless highlight for the Bulls was cutting the lead down to 19 in the third quarter, but that run was only temporary.