Rajon Rondo has traded his cast (needed for a wrist tendon) for a splint (securing the fractured thumb) and now many are speculating about a return to this series. Bulls coach and anti-palming advocate Fred Hoiberg says Rondo is definitely out for Game 5, but…
Hoiberg said Rondo is touching a basketball with his right hand for 1st time this AM. Said he's still out for Game 5.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 25, 2017
Rondo has ditched the right-handed shots and is shooting left-handed now.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 25, 2017
If Chicago falls on Wednesday night, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Rondo give it a go in Game 6.
Hoiberg is going to start Isaiah Canaan over Jerian Grant at point guard. Canaan (13 points, 0 TOs) was the only Bull with a positive plus/minus (11) in Game 4.
Canaan didn’t play by coach’s decision a team-high 29 times this season and landed on the inactive list for another nine games. But his ability to pick up Isaiah Thomas full court and hit the occasional 3-pointer suddenly has vaulted him ahead of — deep breath here — the injured Rajon Rondo, Grant and Carter-Williams, all of whom have gone from starting one game to not playing by coach’s decision the next at one point.
“I really thought he did a good job picking up the ball and pressuring the pickup point a full 94 feet,” coach Fred Hoiberg said of Canaan. “I thought his initial ball pressure was good.
Canaan’s ball pressure isn’t going to impact this series. He needs to make open shots. He was 3-7 from 3 in Chicago. Can he make those shots on the road?
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