NEW YORK -- Knicks point guard Derrick Rose missed Saturday's preseason home opener against the Brooklyn Nets because of his civil trial in Los Angeles over allegations that he and two friends raped a woman.
Rose remained in Los Angeles over the weekend and has been away from the team since Thursday, the second day of the trial.
It is unclear if Rose will play in Monday's preseason game against the Washington Wizards, but head coach Jeff Hornacek said it is unlikely at this point. Rose's trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday.
"It's pretty difficult to go back and forth for one game and then go right back and then come back for a game. So he's just going to take care of that and then come back," Hornacek said.
Rose testified Friday in the trial, saying he interpreted a text message from the woman who alleges that Rose and his two friends raped her as consent to have sex with her later that night. Their text message exchange in August 2013 started with a text from the woman to Rose, saying he was the reason she "wakes up horny." She included a photo of herself in her nightshirt and continued the exchange with other texts about sex throughout the day, he testified.
Rose said Friday he surmised that the initial text had triggered consent from that point on, and he said his assumption was reinforced by their sexual history, sex acts she engaged in with him and one of his friends that night at his house, and an invitation hours later to her apartment.
"I was assuming that all of us going over there that she wanted to have sex with all of us," Rose testified.
It is unclear if Rose will continue to testify when the trial resumes Tuesday. In addition to missing Saturday's game, Rose also has missed two team practices while attending trial.
Hornacek has acknowledged that not having Rose around the team might affect his ability to learn the Knicks' new offense. He said Rose is missing the aspects of the offense that coaches have installed the past two days.
"He understands the game, so he should be picking it up pretty quickly," Hornacek said earlier this week.
The coach said on Saturday that several people in the organization have been in touch with Rose, but no team staffers are with Rose in Los Angeles during the trial.
