The Bobcats may have to spoil Chicago’s playoff seeding without their emerging star – another sign the injury woes have decimated the season could have been.

Gerald Wallace is day-to-day and may not play when Charlotte travels to face off with the Bulls at 8:30 p.m. on Friday at the United Center. The game will be televised on News 14 Carolina and broadcast on Mix 106.1 FM.

Wallace tried to practice on Thursday but did not participate in workouts, opting for treatment before the team departed on the Thursday afternoon flight. Wallace cited pain in both knees, accumulated tendonitis from a possible calf strain he suffered a couple weeks back.

Wallace, the Bobcats leading scorer with a career-best 18.2 scoring average, has also logged marathon minutes as the primary offensive option. He’s played 42.3 minutes over the past four games and despite averaging 27.5 points during the same span, acknowledged that his muscles may be worn out and tired.

Wallace is seventh in the NBA in steals and averaging 7.2 rebounds, good for second on the team. He’s scored 30-plus points a franchise-record 10 times, including three times in the past nine outings. He is also the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week – the second time in three weeks he’s earned the honor.

If his knees don’t swell by Friday morning, he could play against the Bulls – the same franchise he scored a game-high 32 points against on February 14.

Wallace isn’t the only banged-up Bobcats player on Charlotte’s seemingly constant ailing roster. Matt Carroll is also day-to-day with back spasms. Carroll, averaging a career-best 12.1 points, missed both games against Miami after coming down awkwardly while corralling a rebound on April 6.

Carroll, who’s never had a similar injury before, is glad that it isn’t serious and noted that it’s getting better every day. That, however, doesn’t necessarily mean he will play against Chicago, winners of eight of its past 10 games.

Rookie Adam Morrison is also on the injury list, something he had avoided all season. Charlotte’s only player and the only NBA rookie to play through the first 77 games, Morrison is still rehabilitating from a left knee sprain and may be sidelined for the third consecutive game. He is listed as questionable.

Jake Voskuhl missed the recent 92-82 blowout victory over Miami because of a left knee problem. He underwent an MRI on Tuesday to determine the depth of the injury and is also listed as questionable.

The remaining Bobcats, will try to continue their improved play against one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls are tied with divisional rival Cleveland for the second seed with three games left for each team.

The Bulls’ 98-69 stomp of the Knicks on Tuesday stirred national headlines with accusations that Chicago purposely ran up the score. Nevertheless, the Bulls were more enthralled with recent return of Andres Nocioni, who was sidelined with for two months with plantar fasciitis, to its already impressive lineup.

The victory assured Chicago (47-32) an additional lottery pick that New York owes the Bulls stemming from 2005’s Eddy Curry trade. While Chicago seems to have a solid lock on the future, it entertained NBA championship thoughts during Thursday’s light practice.

“I think our chances are as good as anybody else in the Eastern Conference,” said P.J. Brown via the team’s official Web site.

The game will be Chicago’s last regular season at home – a place where the Bulls have won their most games since 1997-98 season. It’s the same place Chicago handed Charlotte one of its worst losses in franchise history – a 115-76 defeat on December 23.

The Bulls won the first five games in the series, but Charlotte has taken three of five since to bring the all-time series record to 7-3.

The Bulls can seal the No. 2 playoff seed by winning their final three games, two of which are on the road. Even though Charlotte is mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, it may pose one of Chicago’s few remaining threats as the season winds down.

The Bobcats (32-47) surpassed the 31-win plateau to become the all-time best expansion team in recent history. Orlando posted a 31-51 record in its second season, but no team has tallied more than 27 victories in its third year as an expansion team in recent history.

“The past three games, we’re playing well right now,” Wallace said. “The team’s confidence is up and everybody is gelling. It’s a good way for us to finish up the season strong.”