Bulls without Pau Gasol for Game 4 vs. Cavaliers due to hamstring strain
The Chicago Bulls are now left hoping their performance to close out Game 3 without Pau Gasol was sustainable.
Gasol will sit Sunday as the Bulls attempt to take a commanding 3-1 series lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers, sidelined by the hamstring strain he suffered Friday.
The injury remains a day-to-day issue, with Gasol's soreness keeping him from performing any basketball activities so far and leaving his status for Tuesday's Game 5 in doubt. Gasol strained his left hamstring in the third quarter of Friday's game and did not return, leaving the Bulls to finish the final 18:48 of their pivotal victory without him.
An MRI on Saturday revealed no additional damage beyond the strain.
Gasol's absence means additional playing time for Taj Gibson and Nikola Mirotic, both of whom were terrific in Game 3. Head coach Tom Thibodeau would not initially reveal who would start in Gasol's place, but Gibson would make sense as an additional defender capable of switching onto LeBron James. (Thibodeau later confirmed that Gibson will start.)
Mirotic has been used sparingly in the playoffs after a successful rookie season, but the Bulls outscored Cleveland by 19 points in his 22 minutes in Game 3. He hasn't played much with starting center Joakim Noah in this series and early returns were discouraging, though no more so than the Noah-Gibson pairing:
| Pairing | Minutes | Reb% | O Rtg | D Rtg | Net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gasol-Noah | 43 | 55.6% | 118.3 | 97.4 | 20.9 |
| Gasol-Gibson | 31 | 42.0% | 82.1 | 119.1 | -37.1 |
| Noah-Gibson | 23 | 53.8% | 111.7 | 134.4 | -22.7 |
| Gibson-Mirotic | 10 | 66.7% | 125.0 | 64.7 | 60.3 |
| Gasol-Mirotic | 8 | 35.7% | 129.5 | 125.3 | 4.2 |
| Noah-Mirotic | 8 | 68.8% | 76.1 | 94.5 | -18.3 |
Losing Gasol may not be as enormous a blow as it looks at first. A talented offensive weapon with strong rebounding numbers, the Bulls have actually rebounded better when Gasol hits the bench and the team loses only a rounding error in terms of net points per-100 possessions.
He hasn't been utilized effectively over the last three games and his absence could force Thibodeau to play more optimal lineups for the matchup. Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov have been able to take advantage of Gasol on the glass in the early parts of the series, and the Bulls may be able to make up ground in that area to even out the loss of Gasol's scoring punch.
Gasol averaged 18.5 points on 49.4-percent shooting in the regular season and has averaged 15.1 points while shooting 49.5 percent through nine playoff games.
The risk for Chicago now is that its frontcourt is thin, and the Cavs would welcome the opportunity to play their own small-ball lineup if the Bulls eschew their size advantage at times. It's going to be an interesting game for Thibodeau and especially Noah, who has struggled mightily in the series and will surely be called on for a big performance.