CHICAGO -- Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose scored 11 points in his preseason debut Monday night against the Washington Wizards.
Rose, who tore the medial meniscus in his right knee Nov. 22 of the past season and never returned to the floor, also added four rebounds and an assist in 14 minutes. Monday's game marked the first time in almost a year that Rose played in front of his hometown fans in a Bulls uniform at the United Center. Rose said Sunday that he didn't feel like there was much rust in any one part of his game after he played for Team USA in the World Cup of Basketball this summer in Spain.
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau seemed pleased with the way his star performed in limited action.
"I thought Derrick played well," Thibodeau said. "Very well. He's been shooting the ball well throughout camp, so I wanted to see what it would look like in the game. And it looked like he had great rhythm, and so that was very encouraging. Some good, some bad, a lot to work on."
Rose got dressed early and left the United Center without speaking to reporters.
Thibodeau decided not to start Rose or All-Star center Joakim Noah to begin the second half. Noah, who is recovering from offseason arthroscopic knee surgery on his left knee, is not expected to play Tuesday night in Detroit, the second night of a back-to-back. Thibodeau said Rose's status would be determined Tuesday, closer to game time.
"I don't think Jo will play," Thibodeau said. "We'll see. I want to see how they respond, and if the medical people think that they should sit, we'll sit them. We'll have practice [Tuesday]. We'll see what we can get done there. We'll see."
Rose has only played in 10 games over the past two seasons, after he missed all of the 2012-2013 season because of a torn ACL in his left knee.
He was greeted with a nice ovation after being introduced Monday night, and fans cheered him early and often. Most importantly for the Bulls, Rose looked aggressive going to the rim and showed no hesitation moving up and down the floor.
Noah looked rusty in his own return and went just 1-for-6 from the field in 14 minutes. Despite the sometimes sloppy play, Noah was happy to be back on the floor with his teammates.
"Not bad," Noah said of how he's feeling. "I think we obviously have a ways to go. My legs looked heavy today. We got a lot of work to do. I think there was some encouraging [signs]. Defensively, I think it was bad. There's still a lot of work to do. But overall, we just got to keep going."