Derrick Rose out after ankle sprains

— -- MINNEAPOLIS -- Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose did not play in Saturday night's 106-105 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves after spraining both ankles in Friday's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Rose warmed up with his teammates before Saturday's game and was listed in the starting lineup, but was scratched just minutes just before the contest. He initially sprained his left ankle in the second quarter Friday night, but remained in the game.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau acknowledged that Rose also tweaked his right ankle in Friday's game, but that injury was not believed to be as serious. 

X-rays taken after Friday's game were negative, and Rose appeared to be in good spirits as he left the locker room. The Bulls' front office, however, likely wants to take a conservative approach as Rose makes his way back from two severe knee injuries.

Despite the latest setback, Thibodeau remains as outwardly confident as ever that Rose will return to being the MVP-caliber player he once was.

"He's going to make it all the way back," Thibodeau said before Saturday's game. "It's going to take a little time, but you see the flashes. To get back to doing it night after night, it's going to take a little bit of time. Sometimes [the progress] is hard to see day by day, but if you look back to last month he's made up a lot of ground since then. He's a lot better now than he was with [Team] USA [this summer]. So in another month he'll be further down the road. He's going to make it all the way back."

Thibodeau has repeatedly praised Rose's work ethic throughout the summer and understands that there are going to be rough nights during the season for his point guard.

"There's the physical part, but there's also the competitive part," Thibodeau said. "When you've been away this long, that competitive edge, you got to get that back as well. So there's a lot that he has to shake off, he's making steady progress. He's doing fine, but there's going to be some up and downs, that's to be expected. Just keep grinding, it's going to all work out."

Veteran point guard Kirk Hinrich started in his place, scoring 11 points in 28 minutes.

Taj Gibson is also out because of a sprained ankle suffered in Friday night's loss.

Jimmy Butler made his first appearance of the season after missing the first two games because of a sprained thumb, sinking the go-ahead free throw with 0.2 seconds left.