LeBron James successfully guarded Derrick Rose during the final minutes of Miami's 97-93 win over the Bulls on Sunday. 

Rose helped lead Chicago back into the game with a 13-2 run during the middle of the fourth quarter. But James then clamped down on Rose, limiting his ability to drive the lane.

Rose scored 34 points on 28 shots in the game.

“[Rose] is an unbelievable talent,” James said. “He’s a great player, and a great person. I always take the challenge, and it’s good to be out there playing against him knowing he’s one of the best in the league.’’

Rose settled for two three-pointers and went three minutes without attempting a shot.

“That’s the luxury that we have,” said Chris Bosh of the James-Rose matchup. “Those floaters were tearing us up. And [James] was able just to kind of keep [Rose] out of the paint.’’

James defended Rose for large stretches of last season's Eastern Conference Finals.

The Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks are pursuing free-agent forward Kenyon Martin, according to league sources.

Martin has spoken with executives from each of the clubs and is hoping to make his decision next week.

Martin signed a $2.6 million deal with Xinjiang during the lockout, but left the team in late December in hopes of returning to the NBA.

Eddy Curry is playing limited minutes for the Heat after making his debut last Thursday against the Lakers.

"We're treating this with an open mind, open arms,'' Erik Spoelstra said. "It's a great opportunity for him and for us. It's still very early on in the process. We're looking at the big picture and are very patient.

"The natural inclination is more, more, more. 'Let's rush this.' That's not our mentality at all. We're going to try to be patient to get him in better condition and get him a better understanding of our system, particularly at the defensive end.

"As long as we go right at this pace, it looks promising he could help. We don't want to rush it, though."

Kyrie Irving is off to a fantastic start to his career, an early frontrunner to win the Rookie of the Year Award like LeBron James did for the Cavs back in 2004 and has been getting advice on dealing with life in the NBA from the man he is essentially replacing. James has been watching and doing plenty of encouraging.

“We talk a lot; I’ve been knowing Kyrie since he was a ninth grader and it’s been great to see him continue to get better over the years and do the things he’s doing in Cleveland right now,” James said. “He’s been playing great. He’s been showing why he’s the No. 1 pick in the draft. Cleveland got a great pick.”

James has known Tristan Thompson nearly as long. Thompson selected one of James’ best friends and business partners, Rich Paul, to be one of his agents. For James, that virtually makes Thompson part of his extended family. The feeling is apparently mutual. 

“Me and LeBron’s relationship is pretty close,” Thompson said. “He’s like a brother to me.”

Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole had specialized cheat sheets awaiting them for practices and shoot-arounds, similar to what quarterbacks wear.

Erik Spoelstra said Chalmers and Cole wear the wristbands “so they can access the information quickly.”

“It looks just like a quarterback’s,” Chalmers said. “Something Peyton Manning or one of them will wear.”

The Heat committed 22 turnovers in a 91-82 loss to the Bucks on Sunday.

During their three-game losing streak against the Warriors, Clippers and Nuggets, the Heat suffered a surge in their turnovers.

“It was a physical game and they got up and into us and got us a little bit out of our comfort zone,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Some of those turnovers were forced and some of them were sloppy.”

Before Sunday’s game, the Heat was averaging 13.85 turnovers at home and 18.75 turnovers on the road.

“We’re getting seven or eight more possessions this year and if we’re coughing up six or seven or eight more possessions that adds up to 15 possessions a game,” Spoelstra said. “If we’re doing it the right way, that really can be dynamic.”

Exhausted by the pursuit of yet another comeback, Eddy Curry said he often considered cutting corners in his efforts to return to the NBA this season.

“But I was getting a call or email or text every other day,” Curry says. “When it wasn’t (Dwyane Wade), it was LeBron (LeBron James).”

Curry watched the Heat during last year’s playoffs and envisioned ways in which he could help the team.

“I thought I could help them while I was watching the playoffs,” Curry said. “But then they started calling. It wasn’t me imagining or dreaming anymore. It wasn’t third party. I heard it from their mouths. Do you know how much that motivated me? That these guys wanted me?”

Dwyane Wade will miss his third consecutive game with a sprained right ankle Saturday when the Heat host the 76ers.

Wade was able to return to practice on Friday but the Heat continue to be cautious. His status for the team's game Sunday against the Milwaukee Bucks is the same as it's been for the last week: questionable.

"He's making progress," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We want to make sure he's in great condition and come back without any setbacks."

Eddy Curry has lost approximately 100 pounds, according to Brian Windhorst.

Curry may make his Heat debut as soon as Thursday.

After Wednesday's practice, Curry worked for an extra hour. While Curry said he still will not be able to play many minutes, any contribution he can give the Heat would be valuable as they currently have no available center.

The Warriors play zone 10.3% of the time, followed by the Bobcats (9.3%) and Raptors (7.5%), according to Synergy Sports, which tracks every NBA play and provides in-depth statistical analysis.

The Hawks face zone defenses the most, on 9.2% of their possessions, followed by the Heat (8.8%), Bobcats (8.3%) and Thunder (7.5%).

It's no coincidence the Heat and Thunder face zones.

"Those might be the two most athletic teams," TNT analyst Steve Kerr said.