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Rose doesn’t worry about what might have been with James, Wade

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade told reporters in Miami there were some days last summer when they expected to be playing for the Bulls.

Just one or two, they said.

Asked Friday if he ever thought about having James or Wade as a teammate, Derrick Rose chose to focus on reality.

“This year’s been great with the guys I have,” Rose said. “I take my hat off to the management and ownership. They picked a bunch of guys that just want to win. It’s helping everybody on the team (because) they’re good guys, first off.”

Rose received a phone call from James shortly after Cleveland was eliminated from last year’s playoffs, but the management team of Gar Forman and John Paxson did most of the free-agent recruiting.

Luol Deng wasn’t even in the country when James announced he was taking his talents to South Beach on his infamous “The Decision” special. Deng was visiting the Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya.

“They didn’t have any TV. I heard about it a few days later,” he said.

And, no, James’ decision wasn’t a hot topic in Africa.

“In Kakuma camp, they really didn’t care,” Deng said with a laugh. “Nobody asked me.”

Miami gets hot:

The popular line of thought right now has Miami playing the best it has all year. Whether that’s actually true is open to debate, since Boston wasn’t at full strength for its second-round series.

“They lost some close games. As the season went along, they got used to playing with each other,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “They practiced hard. Now they’re playing at a high level.”

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have been on top of their game in the playoffs, with Chris Bosh a step or two below.

So that much hasn’t changed.

But the Heat did find a hot hand from long range in James Jones and has been playing defensive-oriented center Joel Anthony more minutes.

“They’re playing with a lot of confidence,” Derrick Rose said. “Their bench players are making shots. Guys are making wide-open shots, passing the ball well to one another. You know LeBron and D-Wade’s confidence is very high.”

Celebration time:

The Heat took some criticism by celebrating its second-round win over Boston with too much gusto. If it bothered any of the Bulls, they weren’t letting on.

“I was not disrespected at all,” Luol Deng said. “They really respect Boston. I guess they went through a lot of losing to them. It meant a lot to them. We’re just happy to be here.”

Last season, the Celtics beat both Dwyane Wade’s Heat and LeBron James’ Cavaliers in the playoffs.

Bull horns:

The Bulls went 8-1 this season against the other four teams still alive in the playoffs as of Friday morning. The only loss was the season opener at Oklahoma City. The Bulls were 3-0 against Miami and 2-0 against both Dallas and Memphis. … Miami veteran forward Udonis Haslem returned from a foot injury to play three minutes of Game 4 against the Celtics. He’d been out since Nov. 20.