Bulls' Rose promises to stay out of Griffin's way

Before Friday's games, the Los Angeles Clippers owned the worst record in the NBA but probably have the best rookie.

After sitting out last season with a knee injury, Blake Griffin is playing like a runaway freight train, producing 20.3 points, 12.1 rebounds and several months' worth of highlight dunks.

If he keeps up this pace, Griffin will be the first rookie to average 20 points and 10 rebounds since Elton Brand did it for the Bulls in 1999-2000.

Asked about Griffin, Bulls guard Derrick Rose vowed not to play hero Saturday if the muscular rookie launches himself toward the basket.

“I'm not jumping,” Rose said with a straight face. “I'm not taking a charge and I'm not jumping.”

Both Rose and Taj Gibson said they know Griffin reasonably well. Rose and Griffin were in the same high school class.

“I played him in AAU at PeachJam and the All-American stuff,” Rose said. “Good guy.”

Gibson's USC Trojans split a pair of games against Griffin's Oklahoma squad. Griffin scored 4 points in the first contest, 25 in the second.

Rose gets healthier:

Derrick Rose looked more like his usual self Friday, now that four days have passed since he was knocked off balance on a drive to the basket and fell to the floor hard against Indiana.

“Actually, he looks very good. No padding today. He looked like a basketball player,” coach Tom Thibodeau joked. “He shot it well. He was terrific in practice today.”

Rose, who said he feels fine, scored just 6 points in 30 minutes at Toronto on Wednesday, content to let Carlos Boozer carry the offense with 34 points.

“Anything to make my job easy, I'm willing to do,” Rose said. “That Toronto game, I was passing the ball. My arm was a little bit messed up. I didn't feel confident shooting the ball and didn't want to hurt the team. 'Los put us on his back.”

Thomas warms up:

While Joakim Noah recovers from a torn ligament in his right thumb, veteran Kurt Thomas, 38, figures to get more playing time. Thomas has played just 12 minutes this season, but the idea was to keep him fresh in case of emergency.

Coach Tom Thibodeau thought back to when Thomas played for the Knicks and made a living shooting jumpers off the elbow pick-and-roll.

“That 17-footer for him is like a layup,” Thibodeau said. “He's very confident in shooting that shot and he's a good playmaker, a good decision-maker. He sets great screens too. If you come off him in a pick and roll, you're going to be open.”

Bull horns:

In the first all-star voting returns, Derrick Rose ranked third among Eastern Conference guards behind Miami's Dwyane Wade and Boston's Rajon Rondo. … A day after his thumb surgery, Joakim Noah visited the Berto Center wearing red pajama pants, but did not speak to reporters.