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Rondo returning vs. Celtics 'a long shot,' but possible

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports / Action Images

Just four days after Rajon Rondo said he would miss "a couple weeks" with a fractured right thumb, the possibility of him returning to the Chicago Bulls' first-round series against the Boston Celtics is being left open.

"We'll see how it goes," head coach Fred Hoiberg said after Rondo, who is out of a cast, got some jumpers up Tuesday. "Just watching him wince a little bit as the ball was coming to him makes me think it's a long shot, but if there's anybody that can do it, will try to fight through it, it's Rondo. Just because the competitor that he is and obviously wanting to get back out there. Doing everything that he can to put himself into position, knowing that it's obviously still a long shot for that to happen."

According to Rondo and Hoiberg, the veteran point guard was only in a hard cast to stabilize his right wrist, which had been troubling him toward the end of the regular season, but has since improved.

The fractured thumb was announced Friday, with the eighth-seeded Bulls up 2-0 on the top-seeded Celtics, thanks in large part to Rondo's renaissance in the first two games. Without Rondo for Games 3 and 4, however, the Bulls stumbled at home, allowing the Celtics to send the series back to Boston tied 2-2.

Rondo has been ruled out of Wednesday's Game 5, while a Game 6 and potential Game 7 would be played Friday and Sunday - just seven and nine days, respectively, after his original two-week timeline began.

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