Forgive the Chicago Bulls if they don't allow themselves to consider any injury to star guard Derrick Rose as "minor."
Rose strained his right hamstring in the fourth quarter of the Bulls' 96-81 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Bulls pulled Rose from the floor with 3:15 left in the game after trainers noticed that Rose was favoring his right leg. The team called the injury a "tweaked" hamstring.
Rose will be evaluated on the team's day off today. He said his benching was more for precautionary reasons than concern.
"It's just a minor strain, nothing serious,'' Rose said. "Hopefully I'll be out there in a couple of days, but it's nothing big at all.
"I think I've been in the training room long enough, around trainers long enough to really know everything about my body,'' Rose said.
The Sun-Times reported, however, that Rose was clearly angry when he left the game in the fourth quarter.
"I think coming out the game,'' Rose said of his frustration. "Just being in those type of situations, playing against a great young team, and I wanted to be out there, but I have to wait."
Rose missed the entire 2012-13 season recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in May of 2012. Rose was the NBA MVP during the 2010-11 season.
The immediate problem for the Bulls is more lost time in practice with their starters. But in the long term, the team has to treat Rose with kid gloves because of the length of his recovery time for the torn ACL.
Rose says he's anxious to get back on the court and continue building a rapport with his teammates as Chicago looks improve upon its 3-3 start.
"I think coming out the game,'' Rose said of his frustration. "Just being in those type of situations, playing against a great young team, and I wanted to be out there, but I have to wait."
The Bulls hope the latest injury is a short wait.
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