The Chicago Bulls are ready to have a championship run this season with Derrick Rose coming back from serious knee surgery and while he looked solid in his debut against the Miami Heat, the point guard now it a game-time decision for the New York Knicks game on Thursday that will air as part of the TNT doubleheader with the Warriors and the Clippers.
According to CBS Sports, Tom Thibodeau said that Rose will be a game-time decision for the matchup with the Knicks and that it has nothing to do with his surgically repaired knee, but rather it has to do with him having a stiff neck after the opening game against the Miami Heat. The Bulls lost that matchup to open the season and Rose struggled in that game, although it looked like his knee held up fairly well as he got back out onto the court for the first time in a regular season game. Rose said that he plans on playing despite the injury, but it was enough that the coaching staff listed him as a game-time decision for the home opener for the Bulls at the United Center.
The central division should be one of the toughest divisions in the league to win with Indiana taking an early 2-0 lead and the Pacers should have a solid challenger in the Bulls, while the Bucks made the playoffs last season and both the Pistons and the Cavaliers feel that they can make some noise in the east with a possible playoff appearance. Rose is coming back from a big injury and expectations are high and after losing to the Miami Heat to open the season, the Bulls are hoping to get back on track against the Knicks, who blew out the Milwaukee Bucks to start their season at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
The Knicks will be playing back to back while Chicago had a day off and now the two teams will matchup with some of the best starting players in the NBA. Rose had 12 points and was a bit rusty from the field on Tuesday night and now he has the chance to bounce back against a team that he has been historically good against in the Knicks, as he is averaging nearly 28 points against them in his past nine matchups with the team and Carmelo Anthony will have to be on the lookout if Rose starts the game.
Rose said that he was disappointed with the loss, but said that the Bulls will bounce back from the defeat against the Knicks. Joakim Noah is expected to start after grabbing 11 boards and the Bulls were led by 31 points from Carlos Boozer. The last time the two teams played and the Knicks won was back in 2012 in April when Carmelo dropped over 40 points and now the two teams will go at it at the United Center on Thursday at 9 pm in the first game of the TNT doubleheader.