The excitement happened despite many attempts by some who were looking to make the path easier for Cleveland, especially LeBron James. There were at least two instances in the final minute when he made contact with Bulls players, but no foul was called. Had the game been called a little more closely, perhaps J.R. Smith's game-tying three doesn't force Rose to play hero ball at the end. Still, I would have just pointed to the Bulls' flaws instead had they lost.
Rose's winner gave him his only trey and a game-high 30 points. Though he made nine of his 10 free throws, the one miss came late in the fourth and could have proved costly. But his constant driving left no doubt that he wants this series he's been waiting for since the end of the 2011 conference finals. He's going to do whatever it takes to will the Bulls to win this series or die trying.
Jimmy Butler scored 20 and had five steals in 44 minutes, showing how he and Rose are content to switch the 1 and 1a roles on this team. Mike Dunleavy hit three from downtown to finish with 16. Tom Thibodeau finally decided to let Nikola Mirotic play in this series (though his hand may have been forced; more on that in a bit) and it paid off with 12 points and eight rebounds. Taj Gibson was a point and a rebound from reaching a double-double, but he settled for nines in both categories.
There were two bad things to take away from this. Despite 11 rebounds, Joakim Noah continued his ineffectiveness on offense with only four points on 1-of-8 shooting. Pau Gasol strained his left hamstring and didn't return. Fortunately, neither proved costly on this night.
It's going to take just a little bit more from Rose to fully convince us he's come all the way back. However, he took a major step in the right direction with one shot. His play has been terrific for the most part. It's those bad games in between that make us question whether his MVP level has returned.
The shot represents everything we love to think about when Rose comes to mind. We've seen him come through in the clutch time and again during the regular season. Until now, he hadn't delivered in such a way during the postseason. True, he hasn't had many chances recently, but the mere lack of this shot was enough for some to criticize his playoff play.
This is a different Rose from the one who was MVP. He doesn't need to take control all the time because he has teammates who can play offense. You have to love an unselfish star. Still, there are times when he must be the leader and he picked a great time to do it.
If we're lucky, this is just one of many major Rose moments in these playoffs. Any of the key Bulls can step up and be the hero, but Rose is the one everybody has eyes on. He's either the best player on the team or a liability with stubborn tendencies. It comes with the territory he and his camp have created, but let's not worry about that now.
Game 4 is Sunday afternoon and the United Center is sure to be ready just as it was in Game 3. Being up 2-1 will do that to you. They just have to be aware James will be in beast mode from the beginning so the Cavaliers won't return to Cleveland on the brink. But if Rose has something to say about it, tying the series won't be so easy.
No comments:
Post a Comment