Thibodeau expects Boozer to miss games
The Bulls were relieved to find out Carlos Boozer has nothing more than a sprained left ankle. The veteran power forward suffered the injury late in Wednesday's win at Charlotte when he landed awkwardly after a flagrant foul by Kwame Brown.
X-rays and MRI exam confirmed the sprain. He's likely to miss this weekend's home games against Atlanta and Utah, and maybe more. The Bulls play another home game on Tuesday against Washington.
Boozer sprained his ankle against Miami on Jan. 15 and missed three games.
“Similar. It could be anywhere from a couple days to a week,” coach Tom Thibodeau said Thursday at the Berto Center. “It will really depend upon how much swelling he has.”
Thibodeau refused to confirm whether or not Taj Gibson will start in Boozer's place. Gibson started at power forward when Boozer missed the first 15 games of the season with a broken right hand.
Gibson has played well lately. He hit 6 of 7 shots and scored 14 points against the Bobcats and is shooting 70 percent from the field (14 for 20) over the last five games.
“I hope that Booz gets back,” Gibson said. “I know we're in a great swing of things the way we've been playing as a team. It's going to be tough while he's down. Once again, we have to pull together and pick up the slack.”
The Bulls posted two quality wins when Boozer was out with the ankle injury in January, beating Memphis on the road and Dallas at home.
His likely absence could mean the return of veteran Kurt Thomas, who hasn't played much since Joakim Noah came back from a thumb injury on Feb. 23. Newcomer Rasual Butler will get his first chance to suit up for a game.
“We're always prepared for these type of things,” Derrick Rose said. “We've been without him before. We just have to fight through it. I thought something was really messed up for a guy 260, 267 falling like that. I thought something was torn. But thank God it was just a sprain.”
Luol Deng also suffered a leg injury during the Charlotte game, but he's expected to be fine. Thibodeau said Deng sat out late in the game mostly because the Bulls were playing well with the lineup on the floor.
The Bulls (45-18) should be focused for the rematch with Atlanta. On March 2, they gave up a 17-point halftime lead and lost 83-80. Since then, the Bulls have won four in a row, while the Hawks have dropped three straight.