NBA Special: Miami Heat defence puts a choke on Derrick Rose
The prominent 3-1 lead of the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference best-of-seven final series is the result of their best hard defence against the Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose. After a defeat in the series opener, the Heat
quickly realized that the only way to the National Basketball Association (NBA) final goes over the 22-year-old.
Heat guard Dwyane Wade had said, “He is the head of the snake,” “We understand as he [goes], they go. If we can slow him a little bit then that is what we want to do.”
The phenomenal third year guard might not boast of the stats as flattering as LeBron James or Dwight Howard, but he has been the sole reason that the Bulls have revived for the first time since 1998. Rose has been a sensation all
through the season especially in the fourth quarters. Through the course of the season, the Bulls point guard established a reputation of ‘Mr. Clutch’ for Chicago. His sizzling performance in the fourth quarter of the only game against the Heat during the
regular season especially took him to new heights.
However, it is all falling apart in the Conference Finals. Rose is wilting down the stretch in the finals. In the previous two games of the series, Miami’s defence has been terrific against the 22-year-old, limiting him to 20 and
23 points respectively.
A two time NBA All-Star made only seven of 23 shots in Bull’s 85-75 defeat to the Heat in the second game of the series. He attempted four shots in the final stanza and made none of them.
On Tuesday night, the Bulls entered the American Airlines Arena with a hope to level the series against the Heat. However, in the presence of LeBron James their dream did not come true. James not only scored a game-high 35 points
in Miami’s 101-93 in overtime victory but also showed his defensive strength.
King James and company handled Rose from every angle, limiting him to only 8-for-27 from the field. James was especially dominating on the defence. He not only scored 35 points in the game, but also hounded Rose for the majority
of the night. It was the tussle of the best against the best and on the night, Rose just couldn’t handle the Heat.
With 6-foot-8 James guarding him, Rose had the ball in his hands over the last 70 seconds of the game but scored just a single point. Additionally, he missed some most important shots, including a jumper with just one second to
go in the fourth that could have won the game for Chicago.
Rose acknowledged the great defence of James against him and said, "LeBron played good defence." "It was on line but just a little bit short."
With the crucial game-5 around the corner, rest of the Bulls’ players have to wake up and carry some scoring load. The Bulls are becoming too predictable at the moment, giving the ball to their best player when the clutch time
arrives and the Heat just crowd him within no time. Miami’s strategy for limiting Rose will remain the same in the next game. Forwards Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng are required to further increase their productivity in order to divert the Heat’s concentration
towards Rose.
Rose admitted his team was very dependent on him in the game and said, “Tonight definitely was on me.” "I had two opportunities to end the game. Could not do it. If anything, learned from it. Too many turnovers. Really was my fault,
but I am going to learn from it."
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