Bulls' Gasol day-to-day with hamstring strain, status uncertain for Game 4
The Chicago Bulls had to close out Friday's thrilling Game 3 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers without starting power forward Pau Gasol.
Gasol suffered a strained left hamstring during the third quarter and did not return.
Before coming out with 6:48 remaining in the quarter, Gasol had struggled for the second consecutive game. He notched just six points and four rebounds, and the Bulls were outscored by three points in his 22 minutes of floor time.
He was, however, part of a much-improved Bulls effort on the glass, as Chicago pulled in 18 offensive rebounds and turned the tables on a Cleveland team that got the better of them on the boards in Game 2.
Gasol told reporters after the game that his hamstring is sore and he's unsure if he'll be able to play in Sunday's Game 4. He underwent an MRI on Saturday that was negative for anything beyond a strain, and he remains day-to-day.
Gasol: "I thought it was going to loosen up and I was going to be able to push through it. The more I pushed through it, the worse it got."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) May 9, 2015
The Bulls' size up front is one of their chief advantages over the Cavs, whose attempts to counter by going small have been met with mixed results.
Gasol's ability to knock down jumpers from 18 feet out allows the Bulls to play big without sacrificing too much space on offense, and if his injury lingers through Sunday, they'll have to make some adjustments.
That will likely involve finding more minutes for Nikola Mirotic, who was a plus-19 in 22 minutes of action on Friday.
Gasol is averaging 15.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 blocks in the playoffs.