To this point, which is only three games, Rose has not played to the level expected of him. Rose has had moments, such as his game-winning shot against the Knicks, but most of the the Bulls' early season has been a struggle.
The shot percentage is rough, and so are the turnover numbers. Rose averages 14.3 points, 4.3 assists and 3.7 rebounds, but is shooting 28.8 percent from the field and already has turned the ball over 17 times.
“You can call it whatever you want to call it,” Rose said Saturday, according to CSNChicago.com. “I’m not playing well right now.”
Rose is aware that it takes time to get aclimated after sitting out as long as he did, so the shooting isn't as much of an issue for him. The turnovers are a different thing, however. Rose averages 5.7 turnovers per game, and had eight in the Bulls' latest loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, including five in the fourth quarter. That's a problem.
“I would have to say the turnovers,” Rose said, explaining what bothered him most about his recent play. “The missed shots, I could deal with. My rhythm’s going to come. But the turnovers, I had two or three in a row. We couldn’t afford them at the time. But all I could do is work hard and like I said, it’s going to come to me.
“Me just doing too much, overthinking the play,” he continued when asked why they were occurring. “Easily could have dropped the ball to Booz or Jo, but just thinking too much. But it can easily be fixed. We blew a lead and at the end, they got to almost every loose ball, hit almost every shot they needed to win the game.”
MAGIC SPOIL KIDD'S DEBUT
The Orlando Magic ended two negative streaks while ruining Jason Kidd's first game as an NBA head coach.
Third-year center Nikola Vucevic and rookie point guard Victor Oladipo both had 19 points as the Magic outplayed the Brooklyn Nets in the second half of a 107-86 victory Sunday night.
It was the second straight win for Orlando, which hadn't won back-to-back games since Dec. 19, 2012, a stretch of 60 games. It also stopped a four-game losing streak to the Nets, who swept Orlando last season winning the four games by an average of 19.8 points.
Andrew Nicholson, a second-year reserve forward, added 17 points and 11 rebounds and Arron Afflalo had 16 points and a career-high eight assists for Orlando.
"That group in the other locker room (Nets) is very impressive, they're Hall of Famers," Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said referring to offseason acquisitions Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, and All-Star guard Deron Williams. "If we played them one-on-one, we'd lose. If we come with a collective responsibility approach at both ends of the floor, we have a chance and our guys did that at both ends of the floor."
The Magic limited Brooklyn to 38.2 percent shooting (34 of 89), outrebounded the Nets 54-42, and allowed only Brook Lopez and Pierce to reach double figures.
Lopez had 21 points and Pierce added 16.
TRIPLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE
Nicolas Batum charted a triple-double of 11 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in the Blazers' latest win, but he isn't happy about the way in which he went about getting it.
With the seconds winding down on a victory over the Spurs, Batum's teammates found him and he launched a shot from deep. It went in, and he had his triple-double. But the Spurs appeared to be offended, and Batum attempted to clean things up after the fact.
“That is maybe the worst thing I’ve done in my career,” Batum said, according to the Oregonian (via ProBasketballTalk).
“It went in — I was like, ‘Oh, no,” Batum continued. “I didn’t mean to disrespect this team. This is the San Antonio Spurs, the best team from the last 15 years in the NBA. I’ve never disrespected this team. I love this team. I have a lot of friends on this team.”
Turns out no one on the San Antonio roster was too worried about Batum's last-second heave, with fellow Frenchmen Tony Parker even offering congratulations.
Batum still couldn't shake his guilt, and he apologized to the Spurs.
“I know this is a bad thing to do,” Batum said. “I want to apologize to the Spurs organization, because that didn’t show good (respect) for the game, for myself, for the Blazers. I don’t really want to disrespect this team.”
JENNINGS DEBUT
Brandon Jennings made his debut with Detroit on Sunday after missing the Pistons' first two games and most of the preseason because of a fractured jaw caused by a wisdom tooth.
The guard entered the game against Boston midway through the first quarter and wore a clear mask that covered his face and chin.
Jennings averaged 17.5 points and 6.5 assists last season with Milwaukee. He was acquired in July in a sign-and-trade deal that sent Brandon Knight and two other players to the Bucks.
LAKER SHAKE-UP
The Los Angeles Lakers weren't slated to have stability at shooting guard while they waited for Kobe Bryant to return, but this change came quicker than expected.
Nick Young is out at shooting guard, with reserve Xavier Henry stepping in to take over his spot, coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters Sunday. Henry started immmediately, taking on the promotion in the Lakers' Sunday game against the Atlanta Hawks.
Not much was expected from Young, who has a reputation for being irratic at times. What he was expected to provide was scoring, but it appears Henry has outshined him in that department, as well as others.
Through three games, Young has averaged 8.3 points and 1.3 rebounds in 19.7 minutes. Henry has provided 13.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in 28.0 minutes, including key playing time in the Lakers' opening night win over the Clippers.
Contributor: DeAntae Prince, The Associated Press
