Rajon Rondo didn’t wait until game time to make a sensible decision.
The Chicago Bulls point guard told reporters Wednesday he’ll miss Game 5 of his team’s first-round NBA playoff series against the Boston Celtics, according to CBS Boston.
Rondo missed Games 3 and 4 after fracturing his thumb last Tuesday in Game 2. Doctors initially predicted Rondo would need two weeks to heal, but he reportedly flirted Tuesday with the idea of making an early comeback.
After dribbling a ball Wednesday for the first time since his injury, Rondo ruled himself out of Game 5 at TD Garden.
“No, I’m not playing tonight,” Rondo said. “I got an X-ray yesterday, and the thumb is still the same. It’s still broke.
“I can still dribble without it, basic dribbling, but that’s a big part of my game,” he added. “I’d have a big cast on it while I was playing, so it’s not very effective.”
The Bulls improbably won the first two games of the series, with Rondo averaging 11.5 points, 10 assists, 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals. But the Celtics won the next two games against the Rondo-less Bulls.
The Bulls will host Game 6 on Friday, and the series could return to Boston on Sunday for Game 7. CSNNE’s A. Sherrod Blakely and The Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson describe Rondo’s chances of playing again this series as remote.
Rondo, of course, spent eight-plus seasons with the Celtics, averaging 11 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4,7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game, before he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 2014. He helped Boston win the 2008 NBA championship.
Thumbnail photo via Adam Hunger/USA TODAY Sports Images
