National Basketball Association

Thibodeau: Slide not due to Rose talk

Published Feb. 27, 2013 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Coach Tom Thibodeau says the Chicago Bulls can't blame the speculation surrounding Derrick Rose's possible return from knee surgery for their recent slide.

He says the Bulls ''knew going in what the circumstances were going to be'' this season and he wasn't offering any excuses on Wednesday.

The Bulls (32-25) are coming off a loss to a Cleveland team that was missing star Kyrie Irving and have dropped seven of 10, with Philadelphia visiting on Thursday.

They've been blown out by Denver, Miami and Oklahoma City and failed to hit the 70-point mark twice during this stretch. They've dealt with injuries, too, with Kirk Hinrich missing time because of an elbow problem and Taj Gibson expected to be sidelined about two weeks because of a sprained left knee.