Bulls Fans Breathe Sigh of Relief

It was a pretty scary moment for Bulls fans on Saturday night.

Ben Wallace laying on the floor clutching his knee and wiping away tears, was not something you wanted to see.

It happened after the Heat's Udonis Haslem fell to the ground after trying to take a charge, and landed on Ben's leg. Wallace had to be helped off the court and into the locker room afterward.

Thankfully it turns out, it's not serious.

An MRI examination of Bulls center Ben Wallace's sprained left knee ''confirmed no structural damage,'' according to a statement released by the team Sunday evening.

It remains uncertain, however, how long Wallace will be out. He was helped off the court with 5:01 to play in the Bulls' 100-97 victory over the Miami Heat on Saturday.

''At this time a timetable has not been set for Wallace's return,'' Bulls trainer Fred Tedeschi said in the statement. ''We're very happy that Ben's injury does not appear serious. We hope to know more in regards to his return ... in the next couple days.''

I was also able to reach our old friend, Ben's Headband, for his comments on what had happened to Big Ben on Saturday night.

"I don't wanna point fingers at anybody, SKILES, but that shit wouldn'ta happened had I been there. I'da let em know, ya know?"

Nope, I don't.

While it's good that Ben didn't suffer real damage to his knee, it comes at a pretty bad time for the Bulls. After their win on Saturday, the Bulls improved to 26-19 a half game out of first in the Central Division, and the third best record in the Eastern Conference.

But now they'll be hitting the road for a seven-game road trip starting in LA on Wednesday against the Clippers.

The Bulls are 6-13 on the road, and went 0-5 on their West Coast swing in November. The prospect of being without Wallace for at least part of the trip won't help matters much.

The part that really hurts is, I noticed over the last week or two, Wallace has stepped up his game. He showed spurts in the first half of the season, but wasn't the Ben Wallace that has racked up a few NBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards. Now I'm starting to wonder if Ben was just taking the same route a lot of aging players take during the regular season, and turning it up down the stretch.

He's been a monster in games against Dallas and Miami before going down. Now I fear that the injury will force Ben to keep some gas in the tank even longer while he tries to recover from it. Something that won't help the Bulls in their quest to win their division, and possibly gain home court advantage in the Eastern Conference playoffs.