Heat's James in disbelief when Rose injured knee again

The Bulls-Heat matchup obviously lost some of its luster when Derrick Rose became sidelined with another knee injury. Miami's Dwyane Wade (sick) and Chris Andersen (personal reasons) were also scratched Thursday.

Rose received some positive thoughts from the rival Heat before tipoff at the United Center.

“I didn't want to believe it,” LeBron James said of hearing the news. “I was actually at home watching the game. I was watching the Bulls-Blazers game (on Nov. 22) when it happened. I saw the play, Joakim (Noah) caught it at the elbow and D-Rose went back door. I saw him kind of come up gimp. I thought maybe he just twisted an ankle or something like that at the time.

“When I saw them working on him on the sideline, on the bench, he didn't look well. I was hoping for the best for him and obviously, the news wasn't the best. (I have) no doubt (Rose can come back). He's very young and very determined.”

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra also shared some thoughts on Rose.

“It was disappointing to see,” he said. “Even from a competitor's standpoint, one of our fiercest competitors, you don't want to see anyone go down in this league. I think that speaks for all players and staff. He's too good. He's too good for this league, too good for competition.

“I know how much work he put to get back into the game. Hopefully it's not too bad. Hopefully he'll be able to return sooner than later.”

Thibs suspends hope:Derrick Rose created a mild stir Thursday by refusing to declare himself out for the season. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau was asked if that gives the team any hope for the playoffs.#8220;To me, basically, he's out for the season,#8221; Thibodeau said. #8220;We want him to be completely healthy before he moves forward. I know how he's going to approach it, the same way he did with his ACL. He'll do his part. We have to do our part.#8220;We can't worry about whether he may come back or not. Right now, it's been determined that he's out for the season, so that's the way we're going to approach it. If something changes later on, then we'll adjust then. We have more than enough here. We have to lock into who we have.#8221;Bull horns:Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau called Jimmy Butler's status #8220;week to week.#8221; He's still not ready to practice after a turf toe injury on his right foot. ... The Heat's LeBron James confirmed before the game that he plans to co-star in a movie with comedian Kevin Hart centered around a fantasy basketball camp.