David Nwaba felt like he had taken two steps forward before he had to take two back.
The shooting guard’s injury came complete with insult Nov. 4 when he was called for a charging foul against the Pelicans.
Nwaba returned to the court before Friday’s game against the Hornets for a team shootaround at the United Center. And while the plan is for the second-year player to practice Saturday and return Sunday against the Suns, Nwaba and Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg acknowledged that plan could go kaput.
“It was OK,” Nwaba said of his sprained right ankle. “I taped a little brace on it. It’s going to take some time. I’m shooting for Sunday but we’ll see how it goes. I know I can’t wait for it to be 100 percent but I’m trying to see how much pain I can tolerate.”
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Just as he became familiar with pain, Nwaba was becoming familiar with gain through his first eight games of the season.
The 24-year-old scored a season-best 16 points the night before the injury against the Magic. Three games before that, he scored 15 to go with 11 rebounds.
He had started three straight games before he was helped off the court against the Pelicans.
“It’s always frustrating dealing with an injury, but the timing was a bit off,” he said. “Just doing whatever I can go get back out there. Hopefully I’ll be able to bounce back.”
Nwaba said he didn’t expect to start immediately upon his return.
But Hoiberg acknowledged his teammates have missed him on the floor.
“We miss his energy; we miss his live body,” Hoiberg said. “He can create for himself and others.”
Valentine’s days: Entering Friday, second-year forward Denzel Valentine had seen his points per game increase by more than eight to 10.1, his rebounds go up one to 4.3 and his assists up two, from 0.4 to 2.4, this year compared to last year through 12 games.
Those numbers helped earn him his second career start Friday.
“He has been good in this role coming off the bench,” Hoiberg said. “We need him out there right away to hopefully get us off to a better start.”
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