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MRI shows Bulls' Luol Deng has no stress fracture

Positive injury news on Deng welcome as Saturday's rally

By K.C. Johnson | Tribune reporter

March 2, 2009

If the Bulls' fourth-quarter comeback Saturday night against Houston seemed impressive, consider what happened Sunday.

An MRI exam revealed Luol Deng does not have a stress fracture of his right tibia, which would have sidelined the fifth-year forward for the Bulls' final 22 games and—gulp—possibly beyond.

Hey, why not dream about the playoffs after the Bulls stormed back from a 17-point deficit with less than six minutes left against a Western Conference power and then got the unexpected good news on Deng?

After all, X-rays taken late Saturday had team officials thinking Deng could be lost for the season. Even coach Vinny Del Negro said, "It doesn't sound very good."

Instead, Deng has told people he might even practice Monday in advance of Tuesday's game at Charlotte. On top of that, forward Tim Thomas now is listed as day-to-day after an MRI revealed nothing more than a strained left quadriceps tendon.

Both players sat out the second half of Saturday's stirring comeback.

They had good views for dominant performances from Ben Gordon and Derrick Rose, who scored 11 points each in the Bulls' closing 23-3 run, as well as a dominant defensive performance from Brad Miller on Yao Ming.

With both centers playing with five fouls, Miller fronted Yao—with weak-side support from Joakim Noah—and barely let Yao touch the ball during a scoreless fourth quarter.

"I didn't even remotely care about the other end," Miller said. "I just put every last ounce of energy I had into doing the best I could to front him and battle him."

Gordon and Rose took care of the other end.

Rose played the entire second half—a departure from Del Negro's recent head-scratching usages of the rookie guard down the stretch.

"The thing with Derrick is people forget he's a rookie," Del Negro said. "He does make mistakes. There's no question we have confidence in him. He has been fantastic all year. But you have to go with the peaks and valleys."

As is his nature, Rose brushed off questions about getting the opportunity to contribute down the stretch.

"It felt good, but you still have to respect the coach's decision," Rose said. "We all trusted in each other."

As a rookie who clearly possesses the most all-around offensive talent on the team, Rose has walked a fine line between trying to dominate and defer all season. It's a dynamic general manager John Paxson has noticed. "If he's a little more aggressive, that would be great," Paxson said. "He's a willing learner. Half the time I see him on the road, he's sitting with the coach. I don't worry about Derrick. He's doing fine."

kcjohnson@tribune.com