Rose, Gasol, Hinrich Will All Sit Out Against Trail Blazers
(CBS) In a mantra that's become all too familiar in recent years, the Bulls are really hurting.
Big man Pau Gasol (left calf strain), guard Kirk Hinrich (chest contusion) and point guard Derrick Rose (left hamstring strain) have all been ruled out of Chicago's game at Portland tonight, according to reports.
It will be the fourth straight game Rose has missed and his eighth one of the season. It will be the third straight game Gasol sits out.
It will be Hinrich's first absence of the season. He got banged up in Thursday night's loss at Sacramento.
Aaron Brooks and Taj Gibson are likely to start in place of Rose and Gasol. Reserve guard Tony Snell -- essentially the team's 11th man -- figures to see increased minutes as well with Rose and Hinrich out.
The Bulls (8-4) will the face the Blazers (8-3) on the eve of the one-year anniversary of Rose tearing his right medial meniscus in Portland. That injury cost him the remainder of the 2013-'14 season.
With Brooks as the only healthy point guard, the Bulls will consider signing another point guard next week if Rose can't play Monday against Utah, the Tribune's K.C. Johnson reported.
There's been no timetable given for Hinrich's return, and Rose -- for lack of a better explanation -- seems forever day-to-day as the Bulls remain cautious with him.
Gasol tweeted that he did some drills Friday and is "getting closer" to a return.
