Video: Taj Gibson Leaves Game Versus Blazers With Sprained Left Ankle

This isn’t quite what the seemingly always depleted Chicago Bulls need. In the third quarter of a blowout at hands of the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, Taj Gibson suffered a sprained left ankle and didn’t return to the game.

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Gibson stepped on the foot of Wes Matthews as he gathered a loose ball and began to jump, badly twisting his left ankle in the process. His pain is audible in the videos above.

Gibson’s ankle seems to turn inward as opposed to outward. We’re hardly medical professionals and deem it remiss to speculate, but it’s worth noting that the majority of major sprains we’ve seen this year – like those suffered by Ricky Rubio and Marcus Smart – came as a result of a player’s ankle bending the opposite way of Gibson’s.

The Bulls played without Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol, and Kirk Hinrich versus the Blazers. Though each player should return to the lineup soon, Chicago would obviously be better off if Gibson – basketball’s best reserve, in our estimation – was available to pick up their slack.

The Bulls have four games left on their annual circus road trip before returning home December 2 versus the Dallas Mavericks.

(Video via Damien Prince)

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