DEERFIELD, ILL.Luol Deng didnt participate in Mondays Bulls morning shootaround at the Berto Center and is a game-time decision for the evenings home game against the visiting Lakers.
Still day-to-day, little bit better today. Well see tonight. We held him out, Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said. When hes healthy, he goes. Hes improving every day, so well see how he is tonight.
In the third quarter of Fridays overtime road win in Boston, Deng re-aggravated a right hamstring injury initially suffered in the opening period of Wednesdays overtime victory in Toronto, a game in which he hit the game-winning shot after returning to the contest in the second quarter.
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Second-year swingman Jimmy Butler started in place of the league's minutes-per-game leader in Saturdays overtime loss to Memphis at the United Center, scoring a career-high 18 points and playing nearly 48 minutes.
Hes growing day by day. I told him that everything happens for a reason. You have to go out there and take advantage of every opportunity, and Lus been helping him, Ive been helping him, teammate Taj Gibson said about Butler. He performed well last game and the game before that. I hope he keeps going.