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Zach LaVine injury update: Bulls guard ruled out vs. Celtics with left knee issue, will have MRI Saturday

Fri, Jan 14, 2022
NBA News (AP)

Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine suffered a left knee injury just three minutes into Friday's 138-96 loss to the Golden State Warriors, and did not return. With the Warriors set to inbound the ball with 8:28 left in the first quarter, LaVine intentionally fouled Stephen Curry and walked directly to the Bulls' locker room.

After the game, Bulls coach Billy Donovan said that LaVine will not travel with the team for Saturday's matchup against the Boston Celtics, and that he will receive an MRI on Saturday. It's worth noting that LaVine tore the ACL in the same knee in 2017 as a member of theMinnesota Timberwolves.

Zach LaVine immediately fouls and exits the game pic.twitter.com/l0ILJgne2A

- Alex (@dbs408) January 15, 2022

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that there's some confidence that the injury isn't serious, and is instead being described as "discomfort," though Donovan didn't want to speculate on the severity before receiving the imaging results.

Hopefully the injury does not keep LaVine out for long, as he is an integral part of the Bulls' ascent this season. Entering Friday's game, they were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 27-12 record, after failing to make the playoffs in each of the past four seasons. After being named to his first All-Star team last season, LaVine has averaged 25.6 points and 4.3 assists this year on incredibly efficient 49/41/87 shooting splits.

We will await word on the results of Saturday's MRI.

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