The Brooklyn Nets may have caught a break for tonight's Game 5, win-or-go-home matchup with the Chicago Bulls at the Barclays Center, because Kirk Hinrich has been ruled out with a bruised left calf.
Hinrich played nearly 60 minutes in Saturday's triple overtime thriller in which the Bulls took a 3-1 series lead on Brooklyn by winning 142-134. He scored 18 points and grabbed 14 boards, but the minutes may have taken a toll on Hinrich.
"It's difficult," Hinrich said. "Nobody wants to miss playoff games. There's no question. This is what you look to all year. There's nothing really I can do at this point other than just continue to try and prove it every day and see how it goes."
If the Nets emerge victorious, Hinrich, who couldn't apply any pressure on the leg this morning, said he has no idea if he'd be available for a Game 6. "I wish I could tell you," Hinrich said. "We're just going to treat it like crazy and do everything they tell me to do, and hopefully I won't have to sit out more than one game."
Hinrich has played a big role for the Bulls this season with their leader and best player Derrick Rose sidelined for the entire season as he recovered from a torn anterior cruciate ligament. He averaged 7.7 points and 5.2 assists a night in 29.4 minutes per game. As the season wore on, Hinrich's play improved. In the month of April, he upped his scoring to 10.6 points per game while keeping his assists steady (4.6 per game).
Nate Robinson is expected to step into the starting lineup to replace Hinrich. Robinson has been effective in adding scoring punch off the bench for Chicago; in Game 4 Robinson exploded for 34 points, 29 of which came after the third quarter was over.
Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said, "Kirk's missed games during the season, so we've dealt with that before. The next man has to be ready to get the job done, and that's the way we're going to approach it."
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