Rajon Rondo’s injured thumb will keep him out of the Chicago Bulls’ Game 5 matchup against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, according to The Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson. Head coach Fred Hoiberg didn’t shut the door on a possible return in the near future, meaning Game 6 or 7, but Rondo wasn’t very optimistic about those odds.
Rajon Rondo is out for Game 5 against Celtics
Rondo’s thumb is broken and that hasn’t changed.
Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Rondo suffered a fractured right thumb in the third quarter of the Bulls’ Game 2 win over the Celtics. He was initially ruled out for the remainder of Chicago’s first-round series. But the Bulls have squandered a 2-0 lead, heading back to Boston with a series tied at two apiece for a tiebreaker on the road.
“It couldn’t have come at a worse time,” Rondo said after Chicago’s Game 3 loss to Boston. “But things happen for a reason. It is what it is. I’m not sure how long I’ll be out. I plan on my body healing pretty quickly. The doctors told me a couple weeks, but we’ll see how it goes.”
The cast on Rondo’s wrist has come off, according to the Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson, but he remains in a splint, which suggests his injury has progressed. Hoiberg told reporters his point guard was getting shots up during shootaround on Tuesday, but “winced every time the ball came to him.” Rondo has ditched his right hand, according to CSN Chicago’s Vincent Goodwill, and transitioned to practicing corner threes with his left.
Given Rondo’s history of playing through an injury, it would be no surprise for the ex-Celtics champion to make an early return if it pushes the Bulls over the hump.
In 2011 against the Miami Heat, Rondo dislocated his left elbow and went to the locker room. He returned in the fourth quarter and helped push the Celtics to a victory.
“It just popped back in,” he said of his elbow after the game. “So when I was on the floor, it was a little stiff, but I tried to give my team some energy defensively.”
In January 2013, Rondo one-upped himself when he unknowingly played the entire fourth quarter against the Atlanta Hawks on a torn ACL. He even showed up days later for a game against the Miami Heat, ready to play through what he believed was merely hamstring soreness.
“It means he’s pretty tough,” then-Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, according to ESPN’s Chris Forsberg. “I know when I tore mine, I was crying on the floor like a little baby.”
Rondo’s injury isn’t nearly as serious as a torn ACL or a dislocated elbow.
Jazz forward Gordon Hayward dislocated and fractured his left finger at the beginning of season and missed the first six games of the year. Kyrie Irving also broke his left index finger back in 2012 and missed a month’s worth of games. But both of those instances were on their off hands.
Rondo’s finger fracture is on his right hand, which could cause problems both shooting and passing the ball. The Bulls point guard is tough as nails, and with a chance to prevent elimination on home turf in Game 6 — provided the Celtics win at home in Game 5 — or seal a second-round appearance at home, it wouldn’t be a surprise for the three-time NBA assists leader to rush back to the floor.
And if Rondo does make his return, the Bulls, who are in danger of falling to 3-2 on Tuesday, could get the boost they need to force a deciding Game 7.
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