Derrick Rose again fails in the crunch time for the Chicago Bulls
Trailing the Eastern Conference finals by 3-1, the Chicago Bulls entered the United Center with a hope that may be Derrick Rose could recover from his shooting slump and provide them with a comeback victory in game-5 of the series.
However, the heightened expectations and the responsibility to prime the whole offense took its toll and Rose failed to deliver yet gain. He finished with 25 points on 9-of-28 shooting as the Miami Heat walked away with a hardnosed
83-80 victory to win the series.
The 22-year-old entered game-5 with an average of just four points on 2-for-11 shooting in the fourth quarters of the last three games of the series. Nevertheless, the Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau was confident Rose has the guts to
handle the situation down the stretch.
Thibodeau said, "Derrick will make the necessary adjustments.” "He will be fine.''
When the league MVP opened the fourth quarter on a stupendous three-pointer, it seemed everything is going perfectly all right for the MVP. However, that was about the only thing that Rose did right in the final stretch. Even with
a friendly atmosphere at the United centre, he continued with his typical style in the series, missing important shots and committing turnovers in the closing minutes of the game.
Rose missed five of his first six shots in the fourth. He fouled Heat guard Dwyane Wade on a 3 with 01:30 to go, providing him with an opportunity to make a four point play that cut Miami’s deficit to three.
Then with just 25 seconds to go in the final buzzer, he missed his second free throw, one that could have tied the game at 81. The situation became even more unbearable for the home crowd when Rose missed a last gasp three pointer
to send the game into overtime.
The third year guard has been the key man for the Bulls, this entire season and he was their ace in this series as well. It was only natural that the Bulls gave their best man the ball, when the clutch time arrived but, Rose failed
to find his rhythm not only in one, but on four consecutive occasions. The result was four consecutive defeats and a missed shot at the NBA glory for the first time since the Michael Jordan era.
His most terrible performance of the series was his 8-for-27 shooting from the field in game-4. The 6-foot-8 LeBron James defended him from every angle, forcing him to miss outside shots and a jump shot with just one second to
go in the game, one that could have won the game for the Bulls. Rose finished the series shooting just 35 percent (42-for-120) from the field.
Tags: