Josh Giddey injury: Australian NBA star suffers ankle injury in Chicago Bulls’ win over Indiana

Australian NBA star Josh Giddey’s hot run of form is set to be curtailed by injury, with the Chicago guard suffering an ankle setback in his team’s win over Indiana on Tuesday (Australian time).

Giddey appeared to land awkwardly on Pacers guard Ben Sheppard’s foot midway through the final quarter of the 121-103 win. The 22-year-old looked in pain and was visibly frustrated as he headed to the locker room with members of the team’s training staff, slapping an object in the tunnel as he exited the arena.

Bulls coach Billy Donovan later confirmed Giddey had sprained his ankle, with concern around the fact it is the same foot that suffered an ankle ligament rupture while playing for Australia’s Boomers side at last year’s Olympic Games.

“It’s a sprained ankle, I just probably won’t know how severe it is until probably a day or two,” Donovan said.

“I have no idea if they’ll do any imaging or anything else like that, but it is a sprained ankle.

“He had a game a couple games ago where he kind of rolled it a little bit, but not too bad.

“This one you could just tell, it was pretty painful the way he came up. So, obviously I’m concerned, but I just don’t know to what degree it is.”

The injury comes at an inopportune time for Giddey and the Bulls, who have won three straight games to entrench themselves in the play-in picture in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.

Giddey’s stellar play has been a driving factor, with the Melbourne-born guard pouring in an equal game-high 29 points against the Pacers - on 11-18 shooting - and adding 10 rebounds and four assists.

It marked an eighth double-double in the space of nine games for the 2021 No.6 draft pick.

Bulls teammate Coby White said he was confident Giddey wouldn’t be sidelined for long.

“We asked him after the game, he said he was cool,” White said.

“He’s a tough guy. He’s got that Australian toughness in him. He’ll be all right.”