Jones Jr. determined to play through pain for Bulls originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Derrick Jones Jr. was so close he could almost taste it.
A knee hyperextension suffered early in the Chicago Bulls’ Jan. 12 loss to the Brooklyn Nets had sidelined him two weeks. But a return was on the horizon — either in San Antonio in Jan. 28 or against the Trail Blazers at home on Jan. 30.
“I just felt like I should ramp up my workouts a little bit,” Jones Jr. said after Saturday’s 106-101 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. “I went through my workout like I normally do, and it was just like the last segment of things I was going through, the ball just hit my finger the wrong way, and it didn’t feel right.”
The eventual diagnosis was a fractured right index finger, sustained catching a pass in a routine 5-on-0 drill at the Bulls’ practice facility. Jones Jr. missed another 10 games before returning with a protective splint on the affected area on Saturday.
“It was heartbreaking,” Jones…