Blogs.Bulls.com

It was a long time ago when they last met, two of the last three league Most Valuable Players, Derrick Rose and LeBron James. It was the Bulls home opener and there was uncertainty for both. James was in his celebrated return to Cleveland and having lost the home opener. Rose was back again trying to prove he could return to his former glories after two years of injuries in the Bulls home opener.

James would triumph that Halloween night in Chicago as Rose departed again, this time with a sprained ankle after scoring 20 points. James would carry the Cavaliers to an overtime win with Rose gone.

The teams were the consensus Eastern favorites then.

But as they met for the second time this season Monday in the featured Martin Luther King Day game on TNT, both teams and both players had endured their share of setbacks. And, at least Rose and James, seemed to be coming fast again.

“I feel great,” Rose told reporters early in the day at practice. “I think my game is coming along. I’ve been working very hard. I’ve stayed consistent working.”

“He looks very much like Derrick Rose before the injuries,” added Cavaliers coach David Blatt. “He’s gone through a long period of rehabilitation and preadaptation. I think he’s handled it beautifully and personally, I think he looks great. I really do.”

And James came into Monday’s game in his best stretch of the season after missing a career most nine games to recover from various injuries.

The teams, well, neither has looked as great as the Cavs won only one game without James and come into the game 21-20 and sixth in the East. The Bulls enter 27-15 and fourth in the East, though leading the Central Division and the Cavs by five and a half games.

But for the Bulls the uptick has been Rose, having his best stretch since his 2012 ACL injury. Rose is up to 18 points per game on the season and 24.8 per game the last five games. That makes Rose a potential All-Star game candidate again as the coaches do not vote for the reserves for another 10 days. The starters will be announced Thursday.

“The most complete (he’s been),” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said of Rose before the game. “Getting stronger on the defensive side of the ball, attacking the paint more. I think all those things are huge for our team. Playing with a better pace. A big part of his job is getting us to play with pace. And I still think there’s another level for him to go to. And that’s what we want him to do, continue to attack, make the game easier for everybody. And we need him to play great defense as well.

“I think he’s gaining confidence,” said Thibodeau. “He’s gone through a long period of time where he wasn’t playing and just getting that competitive edge back. That’s what, I think, made him so special prior to the injuries. And, I think, now he’s starting to attack again and when he’s like that no opponent wants to see him like that.

“I think he knows physically he feels really good,” said Thibodeau. “That’s important. Just knowing, OK, he’s played in a number of back to backs, he’s done a lot of good things where you can see the confidence growing.”

So it’s Rose and LeBron again, though Rose says he doesn’t worry about what could have been.

“Of course I wish I was just playing,” Rose said about the time after their Eastern Conference finals meeting in 2011. “Who knows what would’ve happened if I was playing? The only thing I was concerned about was getting back on the floor and just trying to get back healthy. He won two championships. You can’t get mad at that. I can’t get mad at that. He went out and got what he wanted. Now that I’m back I’m just trying to chase my dream now.”