Rose not quite ready for contact in practice
The next step in Derrick Rose's recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery didn't happen Friday.
The Bulls held a short practice at the Advocate Center and Rose was still limited to the noncontact portions. After playing New York on Saturday, the Bulls have three days off before the next game, so there will be opportunities for Rose to get some work in if he's cleared for contact.
"Most likely it will be next week, but I don't want to jump ahead," coach Tom Thibodeau said after practice.
Friday marked the four-week anniversary of Rose's surgery. The Bulls estimated his recovery time at 4-6 weeks and Thibodeau has said everything is going well.
The Bulls are hoping Rose will be able to get at least a few games under his belt before the playoffs begin. The Bulls have nine games remaining in the regular season, but with the pace of the schedule slowing down, Rose could take two more weeks and still get three games in. If he's cleared for full practice next week, there's a decent chance he could return sooner.
Meanwhile, Thibodeau said the team did scrimmage during Friday's practice and everyone except Rose participated, including Doug McDermott, who was unavailable Wednesday at Toronto because of a sore back.
"It was good because it gives us a chance to build some continuity," Thibodeau said. "We have to concentrate on the guys we do have, and we have to improve. There's a lot of areas to clean up and try to build continuity."
Late lineups change:
Tom Thibodeau was asked Friday about settling on a closing lineup. Obviously, the finishing group has changed frequently this season because of all the injuries. The Bulls have used 21 different starting lineups.
"It's based on performance," he said. "If a guy is playing well, he's going to be out there. You'd like to have an idea to build continuity so when you're in certain situations, you have an understanding of what you're going to.
"A lot of it has been on the fly all year. You'd like to build and know who you're going to have. But we have to deal with our reality, which is whoever is there, just get in there and get it done."
Rookie Nikola Mirotic appears to have earned a permanent spot in the closing lineup. Jimmy Butler will always be out there when healthy. Aaron Brooks usually plays when Derrick Rose is out, although Kirk Hinrich might get the call if there's a tough defensive matchup.
Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah will likely continue to switch off in the fourth quarter. The last spot is sort of a wild card. Tony Snell had a hot hand and played in the fourth quarter Wednesday at Toronto. That spot could also go to Mike Dunleavy, Hinrich against multi-guard lineups or the Bulls could use the tall front line with Mirotic at small forward.
Playoff tickets on sale:
Bulls playoff tickets for Rounds 1 and 2 are now on sale at the United Center, bulls.com, nbatickets.com or by calling 1-800-4 NBA-TIX. As always, the Bulls encourage fans attending playoff games to wear red.
At the moment, it appears the Bulls will have home court advantage in the first round, which would place the first home playoff game on April 18 or 19.