Rose says his shoulder is OK

CLEVELAND - Derrick Rose put a scare into the Bulls late in Monday's victory when he ran into a double screen and walked away favoring his right shoulder.

There were only a few seconds remaining and Rose went to the bench. He later called the injury a stinger and said he could have gone back in had the game gone to overtime.

"That was my first time having one," Rose said. "It went away within five or 10 minutes. Hopefully tomorrow it's not sore or anything. It's not something I'm worried about."

Rose described what happened on the play, when he tried to chase Kyrie Irving through a double screen near the foul line.

"They tried to close the door on me and I tried to get through it, knowing how big that possession was," Rose said. "I ended up hitting, I think, Tristan (Thompson), his shoulder or something like that. I just felt my nerves tingling all the way from my shoulder to my fingertips. It's just something I never felt before. That's when they told me it was probably a stinger.

LeBron knows Thibs:

This series is the third time LeBron James has played against the Bulls in the playoffs with Tom Thibodeau as head coach. James also went against Boston twice when Thibodeau was a Celtics assistant under Doc Rivers.

At Monday's shootaround, James talked about his familiarity with Thibodeau.

"Thibs is always barking out the defensive calls throughout the whole game," James said with a laugh. "It's still surprising to me he hasn't lost his voice completely. It's almost like it's automatically raspy from him yelling all the time."

James was asked if he gets to know coaches well enough to know their play calls.

"Yeah, absolutely," he said. "When you go against certain teams and certain coaches … I know (Gregg) Popovich very well, and he's probably the greatest coach ever in our league. I've gone against Thibs and Doc.

"You hear the calls and you kind of know what they are. That doesn't mean you're going to be successful against them. You still have to execute."

New year, new team:

The Bulls won 62 games in 2011 when they lost to LeBron James' Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. This year they won 50, but James gave this team the edge.

The conversation began with questions about whether James would guard Rose in this series like he did at times in 2011.

"In that particular series, that was his MVP season and in order for us to win, we had to try to do a number on him," James said. "I think now today his supporting cast is a little bit better.

"He added a champion; he added an all-star in Pau (Gasol). Jimmy (Butler) has emerged to being an all-star, and the rest of the guys have continued to get better. He gets a little break as well with Aaron Brooks coming of the bench.

"I think it's a different time, a different situation. If I need to guard Rose at times, I can do it. I can guard anyone on their team, one through 15, if need be. The time and the score of the game will dictate itself."

James third for MVP:

LeBron James finished third in the MVP voting, behind Golden State's Steph Curry and Houston's James Harden. No Bulls received any votes. In fact, of the 12 players who did get votes, only James is from the Eastern Conference.

"Not disappointed (about finishing third)," James said Monday. "I think it's well deserved (for Curry). You see first of all the team success; that's the first thing that pops out. Franchise record in wins.

"He's the catalyst of that whole ship. I think he's had an unbelievable season, and I think it's very well deserved. It's always great that another kid born in Akron, Ohio, can win the MVP."

Curry and James reportedly were born in the same Akron hospital. Curry's father, Dell, played in the NBA for 16 years and spent one season with the Cavs, in 1987-88 when Steph was born.

Lineup changes:

Cavaliers coach David Blatt pulled a bit of a surprise by starting Mike Miller and Iman Shumpert in place of the injured Kevin Love and suspended J.R. Smith. Miller didn't play at all in the first round against Boston.

Going small didn't pay off early. The Bulls lead was 21-7 when Blatt sent power forward Tristan Thompson into the game. The Bulls opened with Joakim Noah guarding the 6-foot-5 Shumpert. Cleveland used the same lineup to start the second half.