Goran Dragić out vs. Bucks with left shoulder injury originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Goran Dragić will miss the Chicago Bulls’ matchup against the Bucks in Milwaukee on Wednesday night with a left shoulder stinger, Billy Donovan told reporters pregame.
Dragić, who had appeared in all 17 of the Bulls’ games before Wednesday, suffered the injury during a collision with Sam Hauser in the first quarter of Monday’s victory over the Boston Celtics at the United Center. The veteran guard exited to the locker room shortly after the incident and returned to play midway through the second quarter.
But Donovan said after the game that Dragić had been hit in the neck and experienced numbness in the back of his arm and elbow. The Bulls’ coach limited his run to a season-low seven minutes after sensing the veteran point guard was not himself.
“Nothing has really changed. It’s pretty much the same thing,” Donovan told reporters Wednesday. “He’s (Dragić) just got some numbness from getting hit in his neck with that nerve that is going down his arm. He had some issues in the second half when we put him back in. We didn’t think he looked great and he hasn’t had much change. Hopefully in a couple days, he’ll be OK.”
Donovan added that Dragić — who was initially listed on the injury report as probable for the Bucks game, but was downgraded to questionable after not participating in shootaround — underwent an MRI to investigate the issue further. His response will be monitored on a day-to-day basis.
The 36-year-old is averaging 8.7 points, 3.6 assists and shooting 44.4 percent from 3-point range in just 18.5 minutes per game so far this season. He also leads the Bulls in total plus-minus (+39).
But given Donovan emphasized from day one of training camp that the team will manage Dragić’s workload carefully, with an eye on keeping him fresh for the stretch run and postseason, a conservative approach to injuries makes sense.
Story continues
With Dragić and Lonzo Ball sidelined, the Bulls will lean on their remaining guard depth of Alex Caruso, Coby White and possibly Dalen Terry.
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