Derrick Rose scores 31 in spite of injury

"You know I won't tell you," Rose said when asked about the injury after the game. "Activated my turf toe. But I'm fine. Finished the game. Towards the end, I didn't feel it. Took an Advil. I was good."

Rose collided with Timberwolves forward Anthony Tolliver late in the first quarter but remained in the game. He was taken back to the locker room and had the toe taped by the Bulls' medical staff.

"(Tolliver) fell on the back of my foot, pushed my toes down," Rose said. "I can't bend my big toe at all so it hurt pretty bad."

Rose finished off the game in style, scoring 31 points and dishing out 11 assists while playing every minute of the second half. He was limping a little in the Bulls' locker room after the game.

Rose brushed aside talk that he would miss a game.

"I've been having turf toe since my second year," he said. "I'm fine ... (Wednesday) I'm not sitting out, I know that. I will be playing."

Said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau: "He's going to take a lot of hits. He's got to get through all that stuff. He's shown how tough he is and that's all part of the game. It's a tough, physical game. He's got the ball the majority of the time, so that's the way it is."

As for what the treatment is for turf toe, Rose isn't exactly sure.

"I really don't know," he said. "I guess motion. Because turf toe is really like a hyper-extended knee, like when you hyper extend your knee or your arm or something. But it's just the toe. You've just got to get motion in it. Because right now it's just stiff."

Rose's injury is the latest for a Chicago squad that has been short-handed of late. Guards C.J. Watson (elbow) and Rip Hamilton (groin) missed Tuesday's contest.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Hamilton remains day to day. There is no timetable for Watson at the moment, although Watson has discussed possibly coming back early next week.

Nick Friedell covers the Bulls for ESPNChicago.com.