CHICAGO — Luol Deng may be out of the hospital, but he doesn’t seem ready to return to the basketball court.
The Bulls forward, who has been laid up since Game 5 of Chicago’s first-round series win over the Nets after suffering complications from a spinal tap to test for meningitis, told reporters yesterday he still has a long way to go in order to be ready to play in a game. That means he likely will sit out Game 3 of the Bulls’ Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Heat tonight.
“It’s really my first day out of the house and out of the hospital,” said Deng, who also said he has lost about 15 pounds since initially getting sick last week. “I haven’t really left my bed much or done much.
“I don’t know [about Game 3]. … I tried to shoot a little bit and I struggled a little. I couldn’t do it, but we’ll see.”
Along with Deng, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said point guard Kirk Hinrich had a second MRI exam on his bruised left calf, which has kept him out since he played 60 minutes in the Bulls’ triple-overtime win over the Nets in Game 4 of the first-round series almost two weeks ago.
Deng joined his teammates for the film session covering Wednesday night’s 115-78 drubbing by the Heat that evened the series. He also got on the court and took a few jumpers, but that was all he could handle.
“Still day to day. He’s feeling a little bit better,” Thibodeau said. “We’ll see tomorrow.”
While Chicago was taking stock of its injuries, Miami was bracing for the first game of the series at the United Center. It’s the Heat’s first trip to Chicago since a 101-97 loss on March 27 snapped their 27-game winning streak.
Like Deng, Hinrich is expected to miss tonight’s game. Nate Robinson and Marco Belinelli would continue to fill in for them.