Rose needed 10 stitches to close the gash in his left forearm and missed Monday's practice, though he played later in the night against the New York Knicks, scoring 15 points in a 105-100 victory in Chicago.

"It was a silly incident," Rose told the newspaper. "I was cutting up some food and I laid on a knife getting lazy in bed. I went to go get a bottle of water, came back, forgot the knife was there, then sat down and sliced my arm.

"I panicked when it first happened and called my trainer. It was painful but I should be alright."

Rose was the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft after leading Memphis to the national championship game as a freshman. He is averaging 18.5 points and 6.1 assists for the Bulls and is a frontrunner for NBA rookie of the year.

Rose said he would have the stitches in his arm for 10-14 days.

"It's just an unfortunate thing, but he'll be fine," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "He could've practiced today but more precautionary to let him relax a little after that incident and get some rest. Thank goodness it's not serious. It could've been a lot worse."