|
 Rose is also experiencing knee soreness, so it may be prudent to
hold him out of the opener of a seven-game road trip. Bryant missed
the Lakers' 92-90 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday after
shoulder soreness flared up and Los Angeles went on to its seventh
straight loss and 10th in 11 games. Chicago has lost seven of its
last 10 games in a maddening stretch that befuddles center Pau
Gasol. "I don't know if it's a crisis. If you call it a crisis you
can say it's been the crisis all season long," Gasol told reporters.
"It's who we are, nothing worse, nothing better than that. Let's see
what type of game we come out and play in L.A. We struggle against
teams that have worse records than us."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE BULLS (25-19): Chicago could be severely shorthanded if
Rose can't play as point guard Kirk Hinrich (quadriceps) has already
been ruled out of his sixth consecutive contest, guard E'Twaun Moore
(hamstring) is questionable after missing the Miami loss and forward
Nikola Mirotic is out after undergoing an appendectomy on Wednesday.
Gasol had 19 points and 17 rebounds against the Heat for his ninth
double-double of the month and he's been the top-performing player
on the squad during the recent funk. "It's definitely a pattern,"
Gasol said. "It's happened all season long and continues to happen.
Right now that's just who we are, capable of great games and capable
of not being able to sustain those."
[to top of second column] |
ABOUT THE LAKERS (9-38): Bryant is rated as questionable and will
see how his shoulder feels when he wakes up on Thursday morning
before making the decision on whether or not he will play. "The
Achilles, I feel like I've worked that pretty well, knock on wood,
and I feel like I've been able to play through that and it feels
fine," Bryant told reporters. "Now, I've got to take care of the
shoulder. We've got a nice stretch coming up, and I want to make
sure that this thing's ready to go." Bryant's play has suffered
during the stretch with five single-digit outings in seven games and
he is just 22-of-68 shooting during the span.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Bulls have won six of the past eight meetings.
2. Chicago SF Tony Snell is 7-of-34 shooting over the last seven
games while averaging 2.6 points.
3. Los Angeles PF Julius Randle (leg) exited Wednesday's practice
and is hopeful of playing against the Bulls.
PREDICTION: Bulls 113, Lakers 95
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