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Bulls’ Derrick Rose cleared for extended minutes

ByPatrick Schmidt|
Jan 16, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) dribbles the ball against the Boston Celtics during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 16, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) dribbles the ball against the Boston Celtics during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Bulls are in a midseason funk but there is good news on the horizon with Derrick Rose cleared for extended minutes.

Derrick Rose is the x-factor for the Chicago Bulls who opened the season with the goal of representing the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals but his health was a question that wouldn’t be answered until late in the year.

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The Bulls did get some favorable news on the health front of the former league MVP who has been plagued with knee injuries the last two years and has been cleared to play extended minutes, according to KC Johnson of The Chicago Tribune.

Rose’s minutes were carefully guarded the first months of the season as he worked off the rust, which is pretty uncommon for the Bulls considering Tom Thibodeau’s reputation for running his guys ragged. His minutes are increased each month and is averaging a season-high 32.8 minutes through 10 January games.

The Bulls have lost seven of their last nine games as Joakim Noah and Mike Dunleavy have been out of the lineup with injuries, so this is the time for Rose to show he’s back to his old self.

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    • Rose averaged 30 minutes per game in December, up from the 25.9 he averaged in November and played a season-high 37 minutes in Saturday’s loss to the top team in the East, the Atlanta Hawks.

    “I think the more he plays, the better it’s going to be,” Thibodeau told the Tribune.

    Now don’t expect Rose to be playing Jimmy Butler minutes and playing 40-plus minutes on a routine basis, but the occasional 35-38 minutes per game, especially if Noah remains slowed with his injuries and Dunleavy is out of the lineup.

    If the Bulls are going to get out of their winter doldrums and start fulfilling their preseason goals of being the beast in the East then Rose has to prove he’s back to the player that took MVP honors in the 2010-2011 season.

    Rose is averaging 18 points per game, 5.1 assists per game and 3.1 recounds per game for the 27-16 Bulls who sit in fifth place in the conference, eight games back of the Hawks.

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