SAN ANTONIO _ The Bulls' Zach LaVine returned to Chicago Saturday morning to have his left ankle injury further examined and will miss at least the next two games on Saturday versus the Spurs and on Monday at Oklahoma City.
Coach Jim Boylen said LaVine is limping and in a walking boot after spraining his deltoid ligament. There's no official timeline yet, but there's some belief in the Bulls organization that LaVine could miss time beyond Monday.
"We are going to consult with some other specialists and try to figure out exactly what's going on and create a plan of action," Boylen said. "We're disappointed and sorry that he was hurt. But we're hopeful we can get a good evaluation and get moving towards recovery.
"He's seeing our guys right now. And he's going to see some specialists because we want to get as much information as we can. And then we'll get a diagnosis and start building a rehab schedule."
LaVine suffered the injury late in Thursday's loss to the Magic in Mexico City. The Bulls' leading scorer said he felt "something pop" and underwent an MRI exam on Friday. Early indications are that LaVine may need to rest the injury for at least a week and that surgery won't be required.
The Bulls didn't leave Mexico City until Friday afternoon and waited to get to San Antonio to perform the MRI. They now want their own specialists to read the results, which is why LaVine returned to Chicago.
It's unclear when exactly LaVine suffered the injury. There's some belief he first aggravated it on a dunk and later worsened it trying to score on a drive on the final, meaningless play at the buzzer in the 97-91 loss to the Magic. There's another theory that the final play is when the injury first occurred.
Limping out of Mexico City Arena late Thursday, LaVine said he thought the pop "was just some fluid or something" and vowed to play Saturday.
Instead, Boylen said Kris Dunn would start alongside Ryan Arcidiacono in the backcourt. Chandler Hutchison, who missed the Mexico City game with a stomach illness, is available to play.
That means Jabari Parker likely will be out of the rotation for the second straight game as the Bulls and his representatives work to find a trade for the high-profile, free-agent signing.
