Status of Wall and Yi unknown for Tuesday
The Wizards came out of their second set of back-to-back games this season battered and bruised — and in possession of two more losses. The good news is the injuries aren’t serious. The bad news is Washington starts the week with another difficult two-night stretch.
In the middle of the third quarter of Saturday’s loss at Chicago, rookie guard John Wall appeared to come up favoring his left foot after a collision with Bulls guard Derrick Rose at the offensive end. Unsteady as he set up on defense, Wall then tumbled as he took a charge from Chicago’s Luol Deng and fell directly into the right knee of Wizards big man Yi Jianlian.
Wall’s tumble hyperextended Yi’s knee, and Yi lay on the floor clutching it after the play until a pair of teammates helped him off the court.
The initial report was that Yi suffered a bone bruise. The Wizards confirmed that on Sunday. Both players exited the game early. Wall’s injury is being called a foot sprain. Meanwhile, forward Andray Blatche has a sore left knee.
With Wall struggling, Gilbert Arenas stepped in and scored 30 points against the Bulls only one night after he had gone 2-for-14 against Charlotte at home. Al Thornton also stayed in Washington’s starting lineup after being severely limited against the Bobcats with a stomach virus.
The Wizards (2-6) host Toronto (2-8) on Tuesday and visit Eastern Conference-leading Boston (8-2) on Wednesday.
