Bulls’ LaVine out at least week with ankle sprain

CHICAGO — Bulls guard Zach LaVine will miss at least one week with a sprained right ankle, the team announced Friday.

LaVine injured his ankle in the third quarter of Thursday’s win over the Toronto Raptors and immediately removed himself from the game. In frustration following the injury, he threw a towel at an empty chair on his way to the bench before heading to the locker room.

LaVine briefly checked back in during the fourth quarter, but checked back out after only about two minutes of game time.

With less than three weeks to go to the NBA’s trade deadline, the injury is the latest setback for LaVine in a season disjointed by injuries. He played only seven games since coming back from a foot injury earlier in the season that cost him 17 games.

In those seven games, the Bulls saw a different version of LaVine. He averaged 15.6 points on 11.1 field goal attempts with 5.9 rebounds and 5.3 assists, the highest rebound and assist rates of his career as well as his fewest shot attempts since his second season in the NBA in 2015-16.

The Bulls survived an extended stretch without LaVine earlier this season, going 10-7 when he went down with an initial foot injury on Nov. 30.