National Basketball Association

Rose looks explosive, draws praise from Cavs

Published Oct. 20, 2014 10:39 p.m. ET

foxsports

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It appears Derrick Rose is cleared to go full speed ahead for the Chicago Bulls.

For Rose, top speed is really, really fast.

Rose provided that reminder Monday night when he scored 30 points in a preseason loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers at Ohio State's Value City Arena. After a sluggish start for both teams and especially the Bulls, who were playing on back-to-back nights, Rose started blowing past defenders in the second quarter and knocking in shots from various angles.

He looked like the Rose of old, finishing with 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting in a little over 24 minutes. He was 4-of-5 on 3-point tries and also had five ebounds and three assists. Twenty-four hours earlier, he scored 17 points on 6-of-12 in 28 minutes.

"You're talking about an MVP-caliber player," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said of Rose. "He makes the game easy for everybody else."

The Cavs won Monday's game, 107-98, not that anyone will remember. At least in spurts, Rose looked like the confident, aggressive player who averaged 25 points and 7.7 assists per game in 2010-11. He was limited to 49 games over the past two seasons due to injuries.

"He's more confident," Thibodeau said. "As I mentioned before, I think the Team USA experience really helped him see he could handle it when you have a back-to-back situation. They played five games in six days, and that's a lot. There's been a sharpness to his practice, which I think is huge.

"There was a lot of explosiveness. He was attacking. It's been up and down, but for the last week or so his practices have been a lot better and I think it's reflected in the way he's playing."

Rose wore ice packs over both knees after the game and visited the trainer's room, but he said that's standard operating procedure.

"I feel like I could always go out there and play again," Rose said. "I'm listening to my body and conditioning my body."

Rose said he didn't feel he was more aggressive against the Cavs than he's been, adding that he was "just picking my spots." At various points, he went around Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Matthew Dellavedova for baskets, stealing the show in a game designed to show off the new, star-studded Cavaliers.

"I'm used to the stage," Rose said. "I'm used to playing against very good talent, and that's all (the Cavs) have is talent."

Those talented Cavs were impressed.

"As a league and as a fan, it's great to have him back," LeBron James said.

New Cavaliers coach David Blatt said "It's great for the NBA to have him running around out there looking like the old D-Rose."

We'll see if Rose can stay healthy -- and if Blatt feels the same in a few months.