Chicago Bulls have to play without Wade for the third time because of his knee problem. However, coach Fred Hoiberg believes Wade has no serious injury and doesn’t require MRI.
Wade was having discomfort in his left knee after New Year’s eve game against Milwaukee Bucks according to report from ESPN . Coach Hoiberg said that ther wasa little bit of swelling in his left knee. However, the coach believed the knee problem was not serious and Wade just need to rest for one game and he didn’t have to undergo MRI exam on his knee.
He had just a little bit of soreness after the game the other night," coach Hoiberg said. "It was obviously a tough week with five games in seven nights. We decided to play him in the back-to-back because of the early game the day before.”
This Monday night, Wade was sidelined as the Bulls defeated Charlotte Hornets 118-111 at United Center, Chicago. Coach Hoiberg expected Wade to fully recover on Wednesday to play Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. This will be their second meeting after the Bulls won 11-105 on Nov. 25 at the Bulls home stadium the United Center.
In his absence, coach Hoiberg put Doug McDermott in his place as reported by NBA.com to play the wingman in small forward position. McDermott delivered his best scoring 11 points, shooting 5 from 12 in 30 minutes playing time. Jimmy Butler led the scoring with 52 points, followed by Nikola Mirotic with 12 points off-the-bench.
This is the third time for Wade to miss the game this season. All of his missing game was due to fatigue which caused his muscle to strain and he must rest his muscle. That is the reason for coach Hoiberg to have confidence about his sore left knee.
Watch the highlight of the game between Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Hornets this Monday nighht below: