Rose, who had surgery to repair a tear to the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on May 12, has been videotaped dunking off each foot, but more casually than he would during a game. A source said that although he has been practicing and scrimmaging hard, he told the Bulls that until he feels “in his mind” he can confidently dunk off his left foot in a game situation, he is not 100 percent mentally ready to return to competition.

The team is not pressuring Rose, the source said, but the Bulls are confident he will return this season and are still hoping for a mid-March return, which would mark 10 months after his surgery. The Bulls play at Golden State on March 15.

The source said the team has been assured by Rose’s doctor that there is no more chance of the former MVP getting injured upon his return than anyone else and that the doctor told the Bulls that physically “he can play now.” Rose is now dealing with the psychological side of trusting his body.

Rose, 24, raised the possibility that he wouldn’t return at all this season during an interview on Feb. 13 after the Bulls lost to the Celtics in Boston, which was the last time Rose spoke publicly.

“I’m feeling good, but like I said, if it’s where it’s taking me a long time and I’m still not feeling right, I don’t mind missing this year,” he said. “I would love to [return]. I would love to. That’s why I approached my rehab and my workout so hard. I’m trying to get back on the court as quickly as possible, but if I have anything lingering on, it’s no point.”

Since that interview, Rose has taken part in 5-on-5 scrimmages, beginning on Feb. 18.

He began sitting on the bench with the team on March 3.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said after practice Friday that there are no new developments with Rose, and that the clearance for Rose to play in a game “hasn’t been finalized yet.”

“He’s doing everything there is to do in practice, so he’s been cleared from that standpoint,” Thibodeau said.

When asked whether Rose would be able to play in a game if he says he is able to, Thibodeau said: “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. We’re just going day by day. Just keep improving.”

“Definitely getting stronger and stronger every day,” guard Nate Robinson said. “Hopefully, he’s right on time and right on schedule. He’ll be back when he’s ready.”

Thibodeau said the decision for Rose to play will be made by several people.

“There’s a lot of people that got to sign [off],” Thibodeau said. “Obviously, he’s the most important piece. But from Jerry [Reinsdorf, Bulls owner] on down, everyone has to sign off on it.”

As far as what Rose is doing in practice, Thibodeau said: “He’s doing everything. He’s participating in every part of practice.”

Thibodeau also said the Bulls are prepared to move on with or without Rose. “We’ll see what happens,” he said.

The perception that Rose wouldn’t return this season was enhanced on Feb. 22, when his brother Reggie Rose told ESPNChicago.com that the Bulls’ lack of activity before the trade deadline would be a “big factor” in whether his brother would return.

“It’s frustrating to see my brother play his heart and soul out for the team and them not put anything around him,” Reggie Rose said at the time.

Derrick Rose assured the Bulls, the source said, that he did not share his brother’s sentiment and issued the following statement: “I have always felt that the Bulls organization’s goals have been the same as mine and that is to bring another championship to this city.”

Bulls officials from Thibodeau to general manager Gar Forman, vice president John Paxson and all the way up to Reinsdorf have said they won’t rush Rose back. Reinsdorf told ESPN Chicago in August 2012 that he didn’t want to make the same mistake he made with Michael Jordan after Jordan broke a bone in his foot during his second season in 1985. Jordan returned and didn’t suffer another injury, but Reinsdorf has said that it was a risk he didn’t want to take with Rose.

The Bulls have told Rose that while they will support whatever decision he makes, they would prefer he return this season, the source said, “and get it under his belt, rather than wonder all summer if he could.”

Rose is considered the franchise cornerstone and signed a five-year contract extension worth more than $94 million in December 2011.

“There are a lot of kids out there that would love to see Derrick Rose come back and play,” Robinson said. “He’s a role model. Everybody looks up to him, including my kids. My son asks every day, ‘Dad, when’s Derrick coming back?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know.’ It’s funny. Derrick’s sitting right next to me on the flight, so when I Skype my son, I take a little peek. He’s like, ‘There he is, let me talk to him.’ I’m like, ‘You can’t talk to him, just let him be.’ But (Rose) is working extremely hard, and that’s one thing I definitely respect about him. He’s very humble and he works extremely hard in the game that he loves.”

The Bulls enter action Friday in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

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It was about the only play he took off all night.

James scored 30 points in another efficient performance, Dwyane Wade scored 20 and the Miami Heat dominated the middle two quarters on the way to an easy 111-89 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.

James shot 9-for-11, giving him 37 makes on his past 47 attempts, and sat out the fourth quarter. It was his fourth straight 30-point game, tying him with Wade as the only Heat players with such a streak in the franchise’s 25-year history.

“He’s off the planet right now,” Wade said of James. “He’s not even the best basketball player on the planet. He’s surpassed the planet. He’s somewhere else. He’s playing phenomenal.”

It was the first time in James’ career that he scored at least 30 points on 11 or fewer field goal attempts. According to STATS LLC, it was only the 13th such game in the NBA since the start of the 2002-03 season.

“Just confident in my ability,” James said. “It was great to see, when you put in a lot of work and you implement it into a game situation. Just play your game. That’s what I’m doing right now. Just playing my game.”

When it comes to this type of roll, James isn’t interested in figuring out how it’s happening.

“Nope,” James said. “It’s nothing to figure out for me. I go out, see what the pace of the game is bringing, and you go out and figure it out on the fly. I don’t predetermine anything. If the defense backs up, I shoot. They come up on me, I drive. My teammates are open, I find my teammates. The game flows for me that way, and I’m just in that comfort place right now where I can go out and just play free.”

Mario Chalmers finished with 18 points and Shane Battier scored 12 for Miami, which improved to 21-3 at home.

The Clippers got Chauncey Billups, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin back from injuries, but that trio of starters combined for only 23 points. DeAndre Jordan led Los Angeles with 17 points.

“We lost to a good team over there, but we’re not going to hang our heads,” Paul said. “You never want to make excuses, but they shot the lights out of the ball. We never really made an impact defensively. LeBron, Mario, all those guys were on a rocking chair all night.”

Miami was without Chris Bosh and Ray Allen, both sidelined with the flu.

James made his first six shots, and his first miss came when Jordan was credited with a block on a play on which he also struck the NBA’s reigning MVP in the face, leaving him briefly shaken up.

Jordan won the ensuing tip uncontested and capped that possession with a dunk to get Los Angeles within 10 at 64-54.

Three minutes later, Miami’s lead was 24 — a 14-0 run put it away, and James took care of the first half of those points within a span of 37 seconds.

He connected on a 3-pointer while getting fouled by Jordan, then made another 3 on Miami’s next possession. Wade followed with two highlight-reel plays, a two-handed slam on a baseline drive followed by an acrobatic turnaround jumper, and Chalmers connected on a 3-pointer to put the Heat up 78-54.

“We just have to stay together,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. “It’s a test right now. I thought we gave up too much space, too much respect. Obviously, Chris is trying to get back. He’s got to take control of the game, and physically right now he’s not capable of doing that.”

At one point in the third quarter, Miami was shooting 69 percent from the field and 68 percent from 3-point range for the game. The Heat cooled down the stretch, finishing at 53 percent from the floor and 56 percent from beyond the arc.

There was plenty of buzz pregame, for good reason — matchup of division leaders, teams looking to go deep into the postseason. And when the Clippers said before the game that Billups (left foot tendinitis), Paul (bruised right kneecap), Griffin (strained left hamstring) and Jamal Crawford (sore right shoulder) were all fit to return, it seemed as if a showdown was highly possible.

That thought didn’t last for long.

“You can write this off that we got everybody back and we were a little rusty,” Griffin said. “But we have to be better.”

Miami’s lead after the first quarter was 30-29. The Heat — who shot 68 percent in the first half — outscored the Clippers 63-39 in the next two quarters, turning things into quite a rout.

Crawford and Griffin each finished with 13 points for the Clippers.

“When the lights are bright and the popcorn’s poppin’, our guys come to life,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s a great quality.”

Game notes

Miami now has the best home record in the Eastern Conference, with Indiana losing Friday night at home to Toronto. … Heat F Udonis Haslem passed the 5,000-rebound mark for his career during the game. … The Heat continue their L.A. story at home Sunday, playing host to the Los Angeles Lakers. … Clippers F Caron Butler said before the game that he still enjoys playing in Miami, noting it was the Heat who “took a chance” on him coming into the league and it gives him a chance to see the NBA’s “Godfather” in Heat president Pat Riley. … Clippers backup C Ronny Turiaf got his NBA championship ring from the Heat in a brief pregame ceremony. … Billups and Paul combined to shoot 3-for-10.

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Rose’s rehab from his April 28 injury and May 12 surgery has steadily progressed to the point that there are no longer any physical limitations.

“He’s full-contact, yeah,” Thibodeau said before Wednesday’s morning shootaround as the Bulls prepared to face the Milwaukee Bucks.

The likely date of Rose’s return is after the Feb. 17 All-Star Game.

“He can do all the cutting, he can do shooting, he can go off the dribble,” Thibodeau said. “So it’s just a matter of him getting acclimated to playing in a game situation.

“You have to understand that in practice you’re striving to get as close to a game-like intensity as you can, but you also have to understand that you’re not going to be able to get there, so that will be a whole different level. And we have to make sure that he’s ready to handle that intensity.”

Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and executive vice president John Paxson said recently they’re going to be cautious with the 2010-11 MVP.

“We don’t have the defined plan yet because Derrick is still progressing,” Paxson said Friday on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “The way he feels and what his body tells him is going to dictate how we do things. But I can tell you one thing — and this is for certain — he’s going to have to have a high volume of practices and contact, and where he’s comfortable on the floor doing things that he used to do naturally. And that takes some time and he’s just starting that process now.

“We can’t sit here today and say he’s going to be back in three weeks or after the All-Star break. Those things are a hope, but his body is going to tell us and then when we get to that point, that’s when we’re going to have to sit down and determine, after we talk to our doctors and everything, then determine our game plan of minutes and how best to bring him back. We don’t want to bring him back and then have a setback because he wasn’t totally ready. We want this to be a progression where he comes back, he starts to play and every week he gets better and feels better.”

Reinsdorf consistently has maintained Rose won’t play in a game until doctors assure him he’s ready.

“There’s no date,” Reinsdorf said during an interview with WGN-TV on Monday. “The doctors say that he’s doing everything that he’s supposed to be doing and there’s no specific date.

“He’s not going to come back until the doctors say unequivocally that he has no greater chance of getting hurt than any other player. If there’s any risk, he’s not coming back.”

The Bulls head into action Wednesday 1½ games in front of Indiana atop the Central Division and in third place in the Eastern Conference. Reinsdorf said there will be an acclimation process when Rose returns, but Carlos Boozer, who’s been playing his best basketball with the Bulls in Rose’s absence, said it won’t be a problem.

“I just think we get better, man,” said Boozer, who is nursing his own hamstring injury. “I look at it as we’re going to improve quite a bit. He’ll make a seamless transition, he’s here every day, he’s practicing every day, and we do a good job of putting people in positions to be successful. So I think for us it will be a seamless transition and we’ll just be more dangerous.”

Thibodeau appreciates the mindset that his team has kept while waiting for Rose to return.

“That’s not a change,” Thibodeau said. “Over the course of a normal season those are the things that you have to deal with. Injuries are part of the game, so when we laid out the plan in the beginning of the season we said this is the way we’re going to approach this. Everyone concentrate on their improvement each and every day, focus on the opponent that you’re playing; Derrick will handle his rehab.

“You could take Derrick’s name out and substitute another player — when there’s an injury that’s how you have to deal with it and everyone focus on improvement, and hopefully down the stretch you’re playing your best basketball of the year and you’re as healthy as possible. So whether Derrick’s there or not, the approach would be the same. “

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