Gordon's wrist injury serious?

Ben Gordon had an MRI exam on his sprained right wrist and plans to visit a specialist today.

Obviously, that's a sign that Gordon and the Bulls are concerned about the severity of the injury.

As he left the Berto Center Thursday, Gordon carried a copy of his MRI results on CD and said he'd have an update before tonight's game against Charlotte.

Gordon was injured in the first quarter of Monday's loss to Memphis when he fell hard to the floor. He stayed in the game and ended up scoring 25 points.

"A scorer's a scorer," coach Jim Boylan said. "Sometimes you can play with that type of an injury if it's not too serious, but after the game it swells up."

Veteran forward Joe Smith sat out Thursday's practice after playing just 14 minutes in the win over Indiana. Smith didn't match up well against the Pacers' small lineup, but Boylan also thought Smith' knee might have given him problems.

"He's a little bit sore today," Boylan said. "He didn't mention it yesterday, but I would imagine it was bothering him. He looked like he was struggling a little bit to get around, especially after halftime."

Luol Deng (left Achilles tendinitis) is avoiding activity for at least a week, while Chris Duhon (bruised left knee) jogged on the treadmill during practice.

Hinrich gets offensive: Coach Jim Boylan would like to see more nights like Wednesday, when guard Kirk Hinrich erupted for 38 points and hit 14 of 21 shots. Hinrich's previous high game this season was 22 points.

"Rather than trying to facilitate all the time for everybody else, there are times in the game where he needs to be an aggressive offensive player and look to score," Boylan said. "Last night, he was going strong to the basket, he was finishing at the rim. He was doing a lot of things I've seen him do before, so it was encouraging."

Asked Thursday if he defers too much to his teammates, Hinrich answered yes.

"I have so much confidence in the rest of the team," he said. "I just try to do my job and play my role and everything like that.

"Obviously, I feel I could score a lot more if I wanted to. I just feel like I need to focus on all other aspects of my game."

Curry needs surgery: The Bulls recalled JamesOn Curry from the D-League on Thursday, but the rookie guard will undergo surgery on his left thumb. The injury first occurred during training camp and has gotten progressively worse.

Curry is most likely done for the season. He averaged 20.2 points and 5.6 assists in 13 games for the D-League's Iowa Energy.

The Bulls also fined Curry an undisclosed amount for his arrest last week in Boise, Idaho, on charges of public urination and resisting arrest.