Rose not worried about his ankle

With Atlanta’s Jamal Crawford dribbling out the clock and putting a bow on Game 1 Monday night, the Bulls’ worst-case Eastern Conference semifinal scenario seemed complete.

Until Derrick Rose inexplicably challenged Crawford 40 feet from the hoop and stepped on the back of the former Bull’s foot as the final seconds ticked away.

Rose, who re-injured his left ankle, recoiled from the accident and needed time on the court to gather himself before hobbling to the locker room after the 103-95 loss.

Rose said he planned to undergo a precautionary X-ray on the ankle he hurt initially in Game 4 on April 23 at Indiana, but figures nothing will show up.

“I should be fine,” Rose said. “Of course it hurts right now, but I should be good.”

“Of course I’m concerned,” said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau.

Rose, expected to be revealed as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player on Tuesday, doesn’t need anything else robbing him of any quickness.

For the first time since Dec. 15 — a stretch of 64 games — Rose failed to get to the free-throw line.

Maybe that was due to lingering effects from the initial ankle injury. Or maybe Atlanta figured out a magical way to keep Rose from drawing fouls.

Either way, he needed those trips to the line because his jumper continued to be iffy.

Rose led the Bulls with 24 points, but hit just 11 of 27 attempts overall and 2 of 7 on 3-pointers.

He has failed to shoot 50 percent from the field in all six playoff games this season, but he offset that by going 52 for 60 at the line against Indiana.

“Try to keep him out of the paint,” said Hawks point guard Jeff Teague, offering the obvious game plan against Rose. “Try to make him make jump shots. He can get in the paint so quick, but I think we did a pretty good job tonight. I know next game he’s going to be more aggressive.”

During each timeout, Teague said injured point guard Kirk Hinrich (who spent the last two years with Rose on the Bulls) offered tips.

“Every time in the huddle, he’d come and tell me something new,” Teague said.

Rose, of course, doesn’t think anybody stopped him. Except himself.

“I’m good,” he said. “I just missed shots. That’s the only thing. Like I said, my confidence didn’t change. Missing shots, that’s part of the game.

“Next game, those shots are going to go down.”

Ÿ Follow Lindsey reports via Twitter @WillhiteHerald, and check out his Joe Sports blog at dailyherald.com.