NBA teams
Nick Friedell, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Derrick Rose still ill, stays home

NBA, Chicago Bulls

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose (illness) and power forward Taj Gibson (sprained right ankle) sat out Friday night's 103-97 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

It was the second consecutive game they missed. Rose did not fly with the Bulls to Memphis after their win Thursday night over the New York Knicks.

"If he was feeling better, we were going to fly him down," Thibodeau said before Friday's game. "He's feeling a little better but not good enough to play so [it's better] to keep him at home."

This was the 10th game Rose missed this season. He missed eight earlier in the year because of lingering ankle injuries.

"This time of the year people get sick," Thibodeau said. "You got to deal with it. Usually when it hits one guy, it goes through the team. Jimmy [Butler] was sick the other day; he had to deal with it for a couple days -- whatever. It happens."

Gibson remains day to day after reinjuring the same right ankle that has given him problems over the past year and a half and caused him to miss two weeks earlier this season.

In other injury-related news, rookie Doug McDermott is back traveling with the Bulls and is hopeful he can be back to playing in a few weeks after having arthroscopic right knee surgery to fix a small tear in his meniscus.

McDermott, who has struggled to find consistent minutes in Thibodeau's rotation, said he was "shocked" by the initial diagnosis. Bulls team doctor Brian Cole performed the surgery Dec. 13, and McDermott said he was told he could be back on the floor anywhere between three to six weeks from the day of the surgery. He has been riding a stationary bike and has started shooting again in his rehab process.

McDermott said this is the first time he has dealt with any kind of major injury in his career and believes part of the reason it happened is all the hours he logged on the floor this summer between the draft and the summer league.

"Thankfully it's just a small meniscus tear and they were able just to remove it," McDermott said. "Not have to get it repaired or anything, so it worked out well."

Even Thibodeau seems miffed at all the injury problems the Bulls have been dealing with this season.

"It just seems like we've had an inordinate amount of injuries this year, guys out, but what that does provide is opportunity for others. ... This year, I've never seen anything like it," he said.

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