NBA Playoffs 2015 Cavaliers vs Bulls Game 5: Pau Gasol Injury, Still Out on Tuesday

• comments
• 
• 

The Chicago Bulls' power forward, Pau Gasol, was afflicted with a hamstring injury rendering him unable to play last Sunday.

Tom Thibodeau, the Bulls' coach, said that Gasol is now a "little better," according to FanSided.

According to SB Nation, Gasol only did rehab for his hamstring last Monday and never did any on-court activity. He spoke briefly on Sunday stating that he wasn't sure if he would be well enough to play against the Cleveland Cavaliers for Game 5 on Tuesday, according to Chicago Tribune.

Gasol is supposedly the Bull's ace for this season. However, his stretched hamstring seems to have rendered him useless for the team. For Tuesday's Game 5 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, it seems that the competition will be close with Cleveland Cavaliers as the latter are also missing some of their key players.

The Cavaliers are missing Kevin Love as he dislocated his left shoulder in the game against the Bolton Celtics and his recovery from the successful surgery will need four to six months, according to Bleacher Report. Kyrie Irving is playing this season with a tendinitis in his left knee and a sprained right foot. Meanwhile, the Cav's MVP, LeBron James, is still nursing a sprained ankle from the last game against the Bulls.

On the Bulls' end, Gasol's circumstance allowed Joakim Noah to have a bigger part of Game 4's offense but hasn't delivered what was expected of him during most of the playoffs and the regular season, reports Bleacher Report.

During the Bull's victory over the Cavaliers during Game 3, a skirmish between Noah and James brewed as the latter called out the former for disrespectful trash talking. Both players received a technical foul from the referee.

"As a competitor, I love his emotion," said James. "But I think the words that he used to me were just a little bit, you know, a little bit too far. I'm a father with three kids, and it got very disrespectful."

LeBron added that he was alright with competing against Noah and that he loves his competitive nature, but such manners should only be inside the court during the games.

"The disrespectful words that he said to me were uncalled for," James added.

Meanwhile, Noah retaliated verbally postgame. "Disrespectful? I got mad respect for LeBron," he said. "We're just two players trying to win a game. That's all."