CHICAGO (670 The Score) – Bulls star forward DeMar DeRozan is once again dealing with a right quad strain, which caused him to leave Chicago’s 116-91 loss to Philadelphia on Wednesday evening at the United Center.
DeRozan exited with 7:48 left in the third quarter and was soon ruled out for the remainder of the game. DeRozan has been dealing with the issue on and off for a couple months, as he missed three games between Jan. 11-15 due to a right quad strain and then a back-to-back set on Feb. 15-16 due to the same ailment.
DeRozan declined to address reporters postgame as he was headed for treatment. No one on the Bulls expressed serious concern about DeRozan’s health, though they understand the challenge he’ll have in managing a nagging injury down the stretch.
“He’s feeling OK,” center Nikola Vucevic said. “It’s just something that kind of comes and goes. He didn’t want to force it too much the way the game was going probably, and I think that’s smart. He’s a tough guy. He plays through a lot of stuff, so I think he’ll be fine.”
DeRozan told Bulls teammate Zach LaVine that he’s “going to be all right,” LaVine added. The Bulls are 1-5 in games that DeRozan has missed this season.
DeRozan had arguably the worst game of his Bulls tenure Wednesday, scoring four points on 0-of-7 shooting along with three rebounds, one assist, one steal and one turnover in 20-plus minutes of action. The four points were DeRozan’s fewest in a game since he scored two points on Nov. 25, 2017 while playing for the Raptors.
"I'm always concerned because he's been dealing with it, but I haven't gotten anything that's indicated he's going to be out any length of time," Bulls coach Billy Donovan said of DeRozan's injury.
It was a bad night all around for the Bulls, who fell behind 17-0 before they got on the scoreboard and never led in the game. Chicago had won a hard-fought game in double overtime at Philadelphia on Monday but didn’t come close to repeating that performance.
The loss dropped the Bulls to 34-38 as they remained in 10th in the East, which represents the final play-in spot. Chicago leads 11th-place Indiana by 1.5 games. The Bulls start a three-game road trip at the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.
“We’ll take that one on the head and move on to this West Coast trip,” LaVine said.
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
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