Knicks happy Rose can put trial behind him

Derrick Rose's clearance on all counts in a civil sexual assault lawsuit Wednesday came as a relief to his New York Knicks teammates.

"Oh man, that's great news," Carmelo Anthony said, according to the New York Daily News' Stefan Bondy. "Where he can just kind of put that behind him, focus on the task at hand and get back in the flow of things. From that standpoint we're kind of excited about that just to have him back in the fold."

Prior to Wednesday's verdict, Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek had said Rose would miss New York's final two preseason games as he attended the legal proceedings in Los Angeles. After the news, Hornacek left open a small possibility Rose could play in Thursday's exhibition finale in Brooklyn.

"The only thing is if he says, 'I'm going to be there (Thursday) morning (for shootaround), I want to play, I want to get out there.' Then I'll consider it," Hornacek said. "But I don't see that being the case. More than likely, he's not going to be there."

Related: Rose poses for pictures with jurors after being cleared in civil suit

Rose has been away from the team since Oct. 5. The Knicks tip off the regular season on Tuesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. That should give Rose a weekend of practices before the games start to count.

"It's big for him. It's big for us," Anthony said. "It's not like we implemented so much, that much change. He already knows the basics of what we were trying to do from training camp offensively and defensively. I don't think it's a lot of things that kind of changed since he left, kind of small details."

The civil court jury cleared Rose and two lifelong friends - Randall Hampton and Ryan Allen - on all claims of gang rape in the lawsuit brought by a former girlfriend. Adidas said after Wednesday's development that their partnership with Rose "remains unchanged."