Derrick Rose had gone on record saying that he felt fully recovered from the hamstring tweak that kept him out for over a week, but his playing status remained unclear until shortly before game time. But when the action started, Rose was on the court for the Bulls.
Rose played 25 minutes in the game. He shot 5-of-10 from the field and 5-of-8 at the free throw line. He tallied 18 points, three rebounds, five assists, and a steal, although he did also have four turnovers. Getting back into game action was obviously an important step for Rose, but it may have meant just as much for Chicago.
The Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz 97-95, pushing their record to 5-1 in games when Rose plays. They are just 4-4 in the eight games Rose missed with ankle and hamstring issues.
According to media reports, Rose expressed displeasure with the turnovers, saying, "I know everything else is going to come - conditioning, the wind, my shot is there - it's just that I had too many turnovers tonight, and I think that that's one of the reasons they got in the open break and got some easy baskets because of my turnovers."
The Chicago offense looked good when Rose was on the floor, and head coach Tom Thibodeau thought he played well, although he ducked questions about whether Rose fatigued as the game wore on.
"Oh, I don't know. Jesus," said Thibodeau. "He's got to get out there and play. I thought he did a lot of good things. You could see he's not real comfortable with the ball yet, but that will come. When Derrick strings some games together, he's going to take off. He's got to go. That's the bottom line. He's got to go."
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