X-rays negative on Derrick Rose’s ankle, but injury matters

The good news is Derrick Rose’s left ankle is no worse than it was last time.

The bad news is that he has not been quite the same since he injured it last time and it really hit home with Chicago in its Game 1 loss.

X-rays on Rose’s ankle were negative and no MRI is planned, reports ESPN Chicago. He is officially listed as day-to-day, but you can bet he’ll play in Game 2. He’ll get round-the-clock treatment.

He first injured tis same ankle in Game 4 of the Pacers series. He aggravated it deciding to body up and try to make a steal from Jamal Crawford with 8 seconds left in Game 1 when the Bulls were down 8. The game was over but Rose decided he wanted to press, and in doing so stepped on Crawford’s foot. That rolled Rose’s ankle.

Don’t think it matters? In the first three Bulls playoff games, Rose shot 49 free throws, in the last three games it is 11. Including zero in the Bulls Game 1 loss to the Hawks. Hoopdata has the stats and makes the point.

(Monday night) he didn’t seem hobbled by any means. But, he wasn’t able to explode INTO mighty mite Jeff Teague or whoever was guarding him at the time. He could drive and shoot (9 of 20 on two-pointers). He could drive and pass (10 assists). But, he couldn’t drive and draw fouls. As a result, he ended with 24 points on 27 shots (including 2 of 7 on treys). Given the limited margin for error in most of Chicago’s recent wins, that’s a glaring concern.

Problem is, with steady games every other day, Rose is not really going to get a chance to let that ankle rest. And if he can’t get to the line and has to hit jumpers, this is going to be a much harder series for Chicago.