Derrick Rose likely will have no more than just a few practices to get ready for opening night with the New York Knicks.
Rose and two friends were found not liable Wednesday in a $21.5 million civil lawsuit that accused them of raping his ex-girlfriend in August 2013, with jurors in Los Angeles needing less than four hours to reach their decision. Rose has been away from the team while dealing with the trial, and the Knicks are ready to welcome him back with open arms.
"It's a tough thing he went through," Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said in Boston on Wednesday night, before New York beat the Celtics 121-96 in a preseason matchup. "But now it's over. Now he can focus on basketball. I know that's what Derrick wants ... We're just all glad it's done with, and now he can get back here and focus on basketball."
Hornacek said he did not expect Rose to play in the preseason finale in Brooklyn on Thursday, though he did not completely rule it out. Rose and the Knicks open the season in Cleveland on Tuesday, when the Cavaliers will get their championship rings -- and at the same time, next door at Progressive Field, the Indians will host Game 1 of the World Series.
Teams traditionally don't practice coming off a back-to-back, so that would suggest the Knicks might have only three practices with their point guard before the opener. Rose played in one preseason game.
"We have to get him up to speed on some of the things we've put in," Hornacek said.
Hornacek is adding elements of the triangle to his offense. Rose said in training camp that learning the triangle sets was challenging, so his absence from practices and games over the past two weeks certainly hasn't been ideal.
"It would've been nice if he was here and played and got in a rhythm with guys," Hornacek said. "We do have some days of practice before the first game. Even after the Cleveland game, we'll have time to do things."
Information from The Associated Press and ESPN's Ian Begley was used in this report.