Kirk Hinrich out for Game 5

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NEW YORK -- The Chicago Bulls will try to close out their series against the Brooklyn Nets without guard Kirk Hinrich, who will miss Game 5 on Monday because of a bruised left calf.

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"It's difficult," Hinrich said. "Nobody wants to miss playoff games. There's no question. This is what you look to all year. There's nothing really I can do at this point other than just continue to try and prove it every day and see how it goes."

Hinrich, who said he couldn't put any weight on his left foot when he woke up on Monday, is unsure whether he will be back if Game 6 is necessary on Thursday.

"I wish I could tell you," Hinrich said. "We're just going to treat it like crazy and do everything they tell me to do, and hopefully I won't have to sit out more than one game."

Nate Robinson is expected to start in place of Hinrich. Robinson is coming off a memorable Game 4 performance when he scored 34 points, including 23 in the fourth quarter, to fuel a Bulls comeback that gave them a 3-1 series lead.

"Kirk's missed games during the season, so we've dealt with that before," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "The next man has to be ready to get the job done, and that's the way we're going to approach it."

Robinson said it will be up to the bench to make up for the loss of Hinrich.

"It sucks for us but at the same time guys filling in, they got to be ready," Robinson said. "So we need Marco (Belinelli) to play big, Marquis (Teague) to play big and guys subbing in for guys that go down, including myself, so we just got to be ready and continue to play."

Thibodeau expects to stick with the same plan of 25-30 minutes for banged-up centerJoakim Noah, who is dealing with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Noah exceeded that limit in Game 4 with 15 points and 13 rebounds in 39 minutes.

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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.