Fans (and media members) often get frustrated with players sitting out games for rest or an injury they would play through if it were the playoffs. This is why they sit.
DeMar DeRozan said he had been playing through a sore right quadriceps for the last eight games, and on Monday night it came back to bite him because he went down with a strained right quad that could keep him out a little while.
It’s hard to say how much time DeRozan might miss — after the loss in Boston DeRozan said he would get treatment on the plane and hoped to play Wednesday in Washington. The Bulls trainers will likely be a little more cautious than that, however, DeRozan played down the seriousness of the injury postgame, via K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
“To me, when the season starts, physically we go through so much stuff that you just gotta deal with it. In my mind, knock on wood, as long as nothing is torn or broke, I try to assess myself and feel like I could play through almost anything. That’s all it is. It’s nothing too serious to be extra overly concerned about. It’s just one of those uncomfortable things that I don’t want to linger and keep worrying about…
“I thought I tripped. Apparently I didn’t trip over nothing but the parquet floor,” DeRozan said. “When I tripped, my quad has been sore and bothering me and it kind of contracted a little bit more and made it a little bit more irritated. That’s all. Felt like I couldn’t move like I wanted to so I just didn’t want to limit myself and slow the team down in any way. So I made the decision to come out.
“I feel fine other than just being irritated and uncomfortable. Nothing too crazy. It’s just in that spot where (when you’re) moving, you just need that to simmer down and not be so sore and make me feel limited making certain kind of movements.”
The Bulls can’t afford to be without DeRozan long, he leads the Bulls in points (26.4) and assists (5.0) per game, and he’s the guy they lean on in the clutch. The Bulls outscore opponents by +0.5 per 100 possessions when DeRozan is on the court but get outscored by 2.7 when he sits. Hopefully he will not be sitting long because of the quad.
Here’s more on the Bulls
Watch LaVine, DeRozan combine to score 71, Bulls beat Jazz 126-118 Watch Zach LaVine hit Chicago record 11 3-pointers, score 41, lead Bulls… LeBron James, Kevin Durant lead first round of fan NBA All-Star voting
Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan leaves game with strained quad originally appeared on NBCSports.com
