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Derrick Rose will play again this season, but not Friday against the Miami Heat.

An MRI Friday morning in Miami and x-rays Thursday night on Rose’s left wrist were negative. Which is the good news.

But there’s plenty of bad news as Rose officially has a sprained wrist and will sit out at least Friday’s game. Rose declined comment after Thursday’s game when he fell after colliding with Magic center Dwight Howard.

He left the arena wearing a soft cast on his wrist.

The Bulls have three days off after Friday’s game in Miami. They next play Tuesday in Memphis and Wednesday in Dallas, and given Rose’s young history of resiliency, you’d figure he’d be ready to play again by then. However, the Bulls are not certain when he will be able to play.

Thus, Rose will miss the crucial game Friday against Miami, which is among the teams fighting for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Heat is in eighth, a game and a half ahead of the Bulls. Joakim Noah also is out with plantar fasciitis and did not make the trip. Luol Deng missed Thursday’s embarrassing, blowout loss to the Magic and remains day to day with a calf injury. It’s uncertain whether he will play. The Bulls are now 31-33 having lost six straight and seven of nine.

The Heat, 33-32, also could be missing a key player as Michael Beasley has a thigh injury and will be a gametime decision on whether he will play.

Yes, it’s stormy times for the Bulls and not just with rain and thunderstorms both in Orlando and Miami on this trip and also in January when the Bulls were in California and Arizona. Perhaps everyone should have seen it as an omen as there were storm clouds gathering over this season.

Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro started rookie James Johnson for Deng Thursday and when Rose had to leave the game at the end of the first quarter after being taken out by Howard for the second time in just over a month, Del Negro started Jannero Pargo for Rose in the second half.

The Bulls don’t have many choices if all three starters are out, though Miami is not as much of a threat as the Magic as beyond Dwyane Wade, especially if Beasley doesn’t play, the Heat is comprised primarily of role players around Wade.

TNT’s Charles Barkley keeps calling them a bunch of Tito Jacksons, a takeoff on Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five with Wade.

The Bulls have had some success with Kirk Hinrich against Wade, and this will be a good test because the Bulls should at least be able to play a competitive game give the Heat isn’t a high scoring team and play a slower, more physical game. Miami is in the bottom third in scoring and shooting, though in the top 10 in defense.

There’s also the question, at least to me, of Howard’s actions toward Rose. I know everyone, including Del Negro, several Bulls players and, of course, Howard and Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said there was nothing intentional about Howard taking out Rose again.

But he did do it again, and it seemed for the second time there was no clear play on the ball, which at least should be a flagrant 1 foul.

I’m still checking with the league to find out if the league is going to look into the plays given twice is not necessarily a coincidence. I’m not suggesting retaliation as that leads to worse, but Rose is now an official star in the NBA and the NBA long has made a practice of, justifiably, protecting its valuable assets. Howard said after Thursday’s game he counseled Rose to jump with more balance when he drives, though a closer look at the plays suggests, at least to me, Howard going at Rose more with his body and less a basketball play.