Rip Hamilton hopes to play Wednesday

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CHICAGO -- Chicago Bulls shooting guard Rip Hamilton is hopeful that he will be able to play on Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons. Hamilton, who dressed out in Tuesday night's win over the Atlanta Hawks but did not play, has now missed the past two games because of a groin injury.

"I'm feeling a little better," he said after the game. "Hopefully it will feel a little bit better (Wednesday)."

Hamilton injured the groin late in the third quarter of Friday night's win over the Los Angeles Clippers. When asked specifically if he thought he would play, Hamilton sounded optimistic.

"I'm going to see," he said. "We'll see. We'll see how it is in the morning and we'll take it from there."

Obviously, Hamilton is looking forward to possibly playing against his former team. He spent nine seasons in Detroit before being bought out of his contract before the season.

"It's going to be fun," Hamilton said. "It's going to be exciting. It's going to be emotional just from being a part of that organization for so long. The fans were always great to me so it's going to be fun."

In other Bulls' related injury news, point guard C.J. Watson left the locker room in a sling as he continues to heal from a left elbow injury. Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said before the game that Watson was day to day, although he hinted that Watson may join the Bulls on their three game road trip and try to play at some point.

"He's a tough little guy, man," Thibodeau said. "He was in great spirits this morning. As long as (athletic trainer) Fred (Tedeschi) thinks it's OK. The big thing with him right now is getting the swelling out of the elbow. And then it's a pain threshold thing. As soon as he's ready to go, he'll go. He's as tough as they come."

Nick Friedell covers the Bulls for ESPNChicago.com.

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Nick Friedell | email

Chicago Bulls beat reporter

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Nick Friedell is the Chicago Bulls beat reporter for ESPNChicago.com and ESPN 1000. He joined the staff in April of 2009 after serving as an editor and contributor for Yahoo! Sports.