Is Alex Caruso playing tonight? Latest injury update for Bulls vs. Heat
The Bulls have one more chance to secure a playoff spot but may have to do so without Alex Caruso, one of the premier perimeter defenders.
By Ian Levy
The Chicago Bulls have battled long odds all season, earning a spot in the Play-In Tournament despite missing leading scorer Zach LaVine for most of the season. The emergence of Coby White has been a key factor and he was absolutely spectacular in their win over the Hawks, repeatedly targeting Trae Young on his way to 42 points and 9 assists on 15-of-21 from the field.
However, not everything was rosy in the win. In a transition mix-up, Andre Drummond plowed over Alex Caruso, the second time he'd leveled one of his own teammates in the past week, and Caruso left the game with a sprained ankle.
Early reports were that Caruso was a long-shot to play Friday against the Heat but that was followed by some more optimistic reports from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Will Alex Caruso be available against the Miami Heat?
The NBA's official injury report lists Caruso as questionable and we probably won't no more until game time. Playing without Caruso would be an additional hurdle — he's one of the NBA's premier role players, an elite perimeter defender and strong secondary ball-handler who hit 40.8 percent of his 3-pointers this season.
However, the Bulls have some backcourt depth and plenty of offensive firepower with White, DeMar DeRozan, Javonte Green and Ayo Dosunmu, who came up big against the Hawks, scoring 19 points on 8-of-12 from the field.
The good news for the Bulls is that the Heat will be dealing with plenty of their own injury concerns. Jimmy Butler has been ruled out with an MCL injury that he suffered in Miami's Play-In loss against the 76ers. Terry Rozier and Josh Richardson have also been ruled out and Tyler Herro, Kevin Love and Duncan Robinson are all dealing with nagging injuries.
The winner of this game will secure the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference and a first-round matchup with the Boston Celtics. The Heat-Bulls game tips off at 7 p.m. ET. The first-round series against the Celtics will begin in Boston on Sunday, at 1 p.m. ET.
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