Rio de Janeiro: Derrick Rose missed the first NBA game played in South America on Saturday, sitting out the Chicago Bulls’ 83-81 victory over the Washington Wizards with soreness in his surgically repaired left knee.
The NBA star’s absence disappointed a sellout crowd of 13,635 at the HSBC Arena in Rio — the gymnastics venue for the 2016 Olympics — where the top ticket price for the preseason game was 2,000 Brazilian reals (Dh3,365).
Taj Gibson led the Bulls with 18 points and Luol Deng added 14. Bradley Beal paced Washington with 16.
Rose had played two preseason games without any sign of problems, but Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said the knee flared up in practice on Friday and Rose ended his work about halfway through the session.
“We wanted to see where he was today, but he wasn’t as well as we would have liked,” Thibodeau said. “He still had the soreness. So we anticipated giving him time off. We view our training camp as the entire month. So if he needs a day, or a couple of days we’ll do that.”
Kirk Hinrich started at point guard in Rose’s absence and finished with eight points and three assists.
“It’s more, I think, just a precaution. He’s coming off a really big injury. We’re not too worried,” Hinrich said. “He’s been good all camp and I’m assuming everybody is expecting him to be ready.
“Coming back from a big injury like that, you don’t want to push it too hard, too fast.”
Chicago led 44-35 at half-time and were in control most of the way until Washington took a 79-77 lead with 5:42 left on Glen Rice’s three-pointer.
Fans started chanting late in the game “Rose, Rose,” hoping to see him take the floor, but Thibodeau plans on playing it safe with his star point guard.
“In training camp when guys get sore, you usually rest them,” he said. “You are always concerned with injuries or soreness. We knew coming into the season he’s coming off a major injury.”
Thibodeau was unsure whether Rose would play in the Bulls’ next game, at home Wednesday against the Pistons.
