Chicago Bulls still banged up
MILWAUKEE - The Chicago Bulls' playoff push continued to limp along short-handed Sunday. Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson were again sidelined by injuries.
Rose warmed up before the game while wearing a brace on his hyperextended left elbow, but ultimately decided he wasn't ready to go. It was the second full game Rose has missed with this injury.
Coach Fred Hoiberg said before the game Rose plans to wear the brace whenever he does come back. The Bulls' next game is Tuesday at Memphis.
Gibson skipped his third game with a fractured rib, and there's no telling if he will be able to play again this season.
"He wants to be out there, there's no doubt about it," Hoiberg said. "But he's not right. His muscles are still spasming around the fracture. He's got a lot of pain and soreness in that area. He takes one hit and it's going to be extremely painful, even with the padding they made for him. He's just not quite ready."
Stagnant offense:
Mike Dunleavy has been in a scoring slump for a few weeks and finished with just 2 points in Saturday's loss to Detroit. Oddly enough, though, he had the Bulls' highest plus-minus by a wide margin at plus-14 in 28 minutes.
That stat means the Bulls outscored the Pistons by 14 points when Dunleavy was on the floor. After the game, Dunleavy offered some thoughts on the Bulls' stagnant fourth-quarter offense.
"I just think the whole game you've got to move the ball a little bit more," Dunleavy said. "That's what we're trying to do as a team. It just gets tough. The ball gets bogged down, against a team like (Detroit) that's well-coached, they're in the right spots, it just puts a lot of pressure on one or two guys to get it done. I thought we defended well enough, just came up short."
Felicio talks the talk:
On Sunday in Milwaukee, the Bulls again relied heavily on rookie center Cristiano Felicio. The Brazil native continues to hold his own on defense while helping fill in for Taj Gibson.
"The biggest thing with him is his communication. At times still he's calling the coverage late," coach Fred Hoiberg said before the game. "In fact, the (shot) he blocked he had us in the wrong coverage, but he made up for it with an effort play."
Of course, Hoiberg knows not to expect too much from a guy who moved to the United States last summer.
"It's tough, especially when English is your second language, but he's out there flying around," Hoiberg said. "He's got a good feel for the game. He's a great passer. Again, he runs the floor and flattens out the defense and that's what we need from our bigs."