Craig Sager happy to be back to work
During the game's first timeout Thursday night, the Bulls paid tribute to longtime TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager.
It was Sager's first day back on the job after battling cancer for the past 11 months. He received a bone-marrow transplant from his son, and the disease is believed to be in remission.
"I got up today and it was like the first day of school," Sager told reporters at the morning shootaround. "You're a little nervous. I've done it before, but everything's a little different. It's a long 11 months, believe me."
Sager came dressed for the occasion in a black and red plaid jacket. During the timeout tribute, Benny the Bull presented Sager with a brighter, Bulls-colored jacket. Shortly after the tribute ended, Sager switched back to his original wardrobe choice.
Sager has a number of ties to the Bulls. He grew up in West suburban Batavia, attended Northwestern and his wife, Stacy, is a former LuvaBull.
The current LuvaBulls paid tribute, in a way, to Stacy during Thursday's game. They donned the 1980s sweater uniforms and did a routine to Toni Basil's "Mickey."
"The Bulls obviously have a special place in my heart, because I'm from here and I married a LuvaBull," Craig Sager said. "So they're very supportive, from (executive vice president John) Paxson to Thibs to (assistant coach Andy) Greer. It was amazing."
Sager stays positive:
TNT's Craig Sager said he was touched by the outpouring of support while absent from the sidelines.
"Normally, you hear great things, people talk about a career, what somebody did, and it's usually at someone's eulogy or funeral," he said.
"But I was actually alive to hear these nice things said. So it was very uplifting, very therapeutic, very helpful in my recovery.
"It took longer than I thought, because I had a very tough infection and then I came down with pneumonia, and when you compound pneumonia with leukemia, people start talking mortality rates and all. I didn't pay any attention to it. Maybe I was naive, but I really didn't think about the negative things."
Rose takes small steps:
Derrick Rose is still in the early stages of recovery from last Friday's arthroscopic knee surgery.
"He's been doing some form shooting, but he can't really do anything yet," coach Tom Thibodeau said Thursday. "It will probably step up a little bit next week. He's in the initial phase, just starting some work on the bike and basically strengthening and range-of-motion type stuff."
Big numbers:
With 52 points and 17 rebounds in the previous two games, Nikola Mirotic is the first Bulls player to collect at least 50 points and 15 boards off the bench over a two-game span since Bob Love in 1972. … Russell Westbrook's 49 points Wednesday against Philadelphia were the most points anyone has scored as part of a triple-double since Larry Bird scored 49 in 1992.