Bulls' Rose says no bad blood between him and Wade

Derrick Rose disputed a suggestion there is bad blood between he and Miami tri-star Dwyane Wade.

An espn.com columnist wrote there have been rumors Rose was miffed because Wade didn't return phone messages left during the summer's free-agent chase. Wade met with the Bulls twice before recommitting to the Heat.

“I don't even have his number or anything,” Rose said Thursday. “It's nothing like that. You saw at the end of the game when we played them (last Saturday), we said good game to each other. If I didn't like him, I wouldn't say nothing to him.”

Rose and Wade both grew up in the Chicago area. But with a six-year age difference, the two don't seem particularly close.

“When we see each other, we say ‘What's up?' Other than that, we go along our way,” Rose said. “If he wanted to come here, nobody would have stopped him from coming here.”

LeBron James reached out to Rose in May after the Cavaliers were eliminated from the playoffs. Rose admitted long ago he didn't make a concerted effort to recruit James to the Bulls. A team source heard nothing this summer about Rose being upset by a Wade snub.

Boozer gets closer:

Carlos Boozer sat out again Thursday, missing his third game with a sprained left ankle. Coach Tom Thibodeau thinks a return is near.

“He's real close, so probably the next game,” Thibodeau said. “I'd prefer that he get through a practice. Once he gets through a practice, then you have a pretty good idea that he's OK. He wasn't ready this morning, so I didn't feel comfortable throwing him out there.”

The Bulls' next game is Saturday against Cleveland. Considering the Cavs have lost 14 straight and 24 of their last 25, Boozer might be a candidate for two more days of rest.

Thibs on a zone:

Dallas likely plays more zone defense than any team in the league. Before the game, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau shared some thoughts on using a zone.

“A big part of our defense, there are zone principles with it,” he said. “We are hard on the ball, but everyone else is basically in a zone.

“Some people think if you play zone, you can cover up if you're a poor man-to-man team. I think if you're a poor man-to-man team, you'll also be a poor zone team.”

Bull horns:

Dallas is expected to sign veteran forward Peja Stojakovic, who was released by Toronto on Thursday. … Luol Deng grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds Thursday. … The Bulls are 8-1 against Western Conference opponents at home, 13-5 overall against the West.