The Chicago Bulls won their play-in game against the Atlanta Hawks 131-116 on Wednesday night, but they may have lost something important in the process: Alex Caruso, who suffered an ankle injury.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Caruso has a left foot sprain serious enough to jeopardize his availability for Friday’s final play-in game against the Miami Heat.
Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso has a “significant” left ankle sprain and his availability against Miami on Friday with the eighth seed on the line is in doubt, a source tells ESPN. Andre Drummond stepped on foot tonight vs. Hawks in Play-In win. pic.twitter.com/Lo8RMz5Kbh
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 18, 2024
Caruso’s injury occurred in the second quarter, when his teammate, Andre Drummond, essentially ran over him as he ran across the field and stepped on Caruso’s left foot.
Caruso left the game, but eventually returned in the third quarter, only to be taken out for the second and final time because he was so clearly in pain. He played a total of 17 minutes and made two three-pointers for six points with two assists, two rebounds and one steal.
While the Bulls may be cautious about Caruso’s injury, Caruso himself is willing to give it his all.
“I’ll do that until I can’t do it anymore,” Caruso said, via ESPN, about whether he expects to play Friday. “We’ll see how it goes in the next few days, but my mentality would be to play until my body says I can’t do it.”
The Bulls may have taken a bit of a break. Jimmy Butler injured his knee during the Miami Heat’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. It seems likely he will be out when the Heat and Bulls meet on Friday, so the Bulls will have one less thing to worry about as they try to clinch a spot in the playoffs.
