NBA

Derrick Rose sits again, but claims ‘nothing to worry about’

Team USA breezed to an easy 105-62 victory over the Dominican Republic at the Garden Wednesday night, but the biggest story was not the win. It was who didn’t play.

That was Derrick Rose, who spent the game in warmups sitting next to the bench, after the coaching staff opted to give him a third consecutive day off — he didn’t practice Monday at West Point or Tuesday at the Nets’ New Jersey facility — after he scored seven points in 24 minutes Saturday’s win over Brazil.

“Rest,” Rose said afterwards when asked for an explanation. “I could’ve played, of course, but just thinking about the long schedule that we have and talking to [Team USA] Coach K [Mike Krzyzewski] and the whole coaching staff, seeing who they had the opportunity to play last time and why not get a little bit of rest.

“There’s nothing to worry about. I don’t have anything to worry about.”

When asked what was sore, Rose said, “No, not the knees.” Both he and Krzyzewski said he would play Friday against Puerto Rico in the second exhibition game at the Garden.

But regardless of how Rose, Krzyzewski, Tom Thibodeau ( a Team USA assistant as well as Rose’s coach in Chicago) and the rest of Team USA want to spin things, the fact the star point guard needed three days off after playing in one game is something everyone is going to worry about — even if sitting out is just part of the process of getting Rose back onto the court full time. Rose played in 49 of a possible 230 regular-season games the past three seasons due to a variety of injuries.

“We knew this going in, that it would be step-by-step,” Thibodeau said. “[Saturday] was the first game he’s played for a long time. No matter what you’re doing in practice, you can’t match the intensity level of a game.

“He had some soreness. We were on our feet a lot at West Point, and each day he’s gotten a lot better. He warmed up tonight and felt pretty good, but I just think that when he didn’t practice the day before, you want him to practice before he plays. I think that’s the best thing for him.”

How Rose’s knees respond this season will undoubtedly play a huge role in how the NBA’s Eastern Conference shakes out. Even without landing Carmelo Anthony, who wound up choosing to stick with the Knicks instead of playing alongside Rose in Chicago, the fact the Bulls added Pau Gasol, Nikola Mirotic and rookie Doug McDermott should make them, along with the Cavaliers, the favorites in the East.

That will only be the case, however, if Rose can return to close to the form he showed in 2011, when he was the league’s Most Valuable Player. By participating with Team USA this summer, the hope was Rose would be able to get through a lot of the early ups-and-downs he’s likely to experience after so much time away from the court, and that appears to be what’s happening.

“Exactly,” he said with a smile and a shake of his head. “I hope so, man. I’m just trying to protect myself, knowing this is a long, long schedule and that this is the most basketball I’ve been playing in two years. I’m trying to gear up and get healthy.”

As Rose sat on the baseline watching, the Garden crowd launched into four separate chants imploring Krzyzewski to put him into the game. Rose knows that being smart and sitting out was the right move, but that doesn’t mean it was easy.

“It is [frustrating],” Rose said. “I have the crowd chanting my name four or five times. … I want to be out there. But, at the same time, my health is the number one issue right now.”