Rose decides to just leave Jordan alone

Michael Jordan had a front-row seat Tuesday to watch Derrick Rose, the Bulls’ newest superstar at work.

Now owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, Jordan sat next to former teammate Scottie Pippen during the Bulls’ 106-94 victory over the Bobcats at the United Center.

Rose, the team’s first all-star starter since Jordan, didn’t interact with the Bulls legend.

“I know he was probably getting bothered and harassed, so I let him be,” Rose said Wednesday at the Berto Center.

According to Rose, he has met Jordan just once. That happened when Rose was in high school and paid a visit to Jordan’s home.

The Bulls didn’t make a big deal out of Jordan’s visit. They’ve seen it before, when he sat courtside during past visits to Charlotte. The players have gotten used to the presence of Pippen, who was officially named a team ambassador last year.

“It’s been great all year seeing Scottie sitting right there,” Deng said. “We all look up to Scottie. He’s been at practice. But it was good to also see Michael.”

Noah still doubtful:

Following Wednesday’s practice, center Joakim Noah joined in a spirited game of 2-on-2. It was Noah and James Johnson against Brian Scalabrine and assistant coach Adrian Griffin. Griffin’s team won at least once.

Asked if there’s any chance Noah will play against San Antonio on Thursday, coach Tom Thibodeau said, “Not unless (trainer) Fred (Tedeschi) tells me differently. He’s doing great. Everything’s going according to plan. We’ve planned all along on him coming back after the break.”

Noah tore a ligament in his right thumb Nov. 27 and has been out since having surgery Dec. 16. If he doesn’t play against the Spurs, he likely will be back next Wednesday at Toronto.

Before walking away from reporters, though, Thibodeau laughed and added, “Everything’s subject to change.”

Thibs takes offense:

When someone mentioned the Bulls pulling out a win over Charlotte while Derrick Rose wasn’t at his best offensively, coach Tom Thibodeau jumped to Rose’s defense.

“I don’t agree with that,” Thibodeau said. “I thought Derrick had a great offensive game. I don’t measure what he’s doing by points. I measure how he’s playing, and 13 assists to me is very good. We scored a high number (106), so I thought he played a great game.

“I thought he read the defense extremely well. They were trying to get the ball out of his hands. He made the right reads, he made great plays and got us easy offense.”

Rose hit 5 of 14 shots to finish with 18 points, 13 assists and 6 turnovers.

Duncan delivers less:

Tim Duncan seems to be enjoying life with a diminished role. He’s averaging 13.4 points and 9.2 rebounds in 28.7 minutes per game — all career lows.

But he’s the only player in the NBA with more blocked shots than fouls (110-88), while the Spurs are 22-1 when he grabs at least 10 rebounds per game.

Duncan was not voted an all-star starter for the first time since his rookie year in 1997-98. He was chosen as a reserve.

Bull horns:

Here’s Thursday’s matchup in a nutshell: San Antonio is 34-3 when scoring 100 points. The Bulls are 35-1 when holding an opponent to 95 or fewer. … The Spurs rank second in the league in 3-point percentage (.395), while the Bulls are second in 3-point defense (.329). … Kyle Korver is 29-for-55 from 3-point range since Jan. 17, while Keith Bogans has knocked down 8 of 11 attempts from long range in the last three games.