Derrick Rose leads Bulls to beat Hawks, even series
BY HERB GOULD hgould@suntimes.com May 4, 2011 11:12PM
- Morrissey: Gibson deserves more playing time
- Telander: Bulls are better than this
- Cowley: Noah delivers jolt to Bulls
- Banks: Tenacious Hawks earn 'A' for 'D'
Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM
About an hour before he proudly hoisted the MVP award that’s had his D.R. initials on it for a long time, Derrick Rose had a confession to make.
“I can’t wait to get it out of the way,’’ the humble superstar said. “All the stuff that’s been going on, of course I’m happy about it. But we’re just trying to go get this win.’’
Maybe the truth — and a healthy Carlos Boozer — will set Rose and the Bulls free.
Now that everybody has acknowledged what Chicago has known for months—that, as commissioner David Stern put it, “In a league of very valuable players, you are the most valuable.’’—DRose can get down to business unfettered.
After accepting the trophy from Stern before another deafening United Center crowd, Rose got the Bulls back on track.
It wasn’t a great shooting night. But able to give the game he loves all his attention, the NBA’s youngest MVP did what he does even when he’s not hitting on all cylinders.
He led the Bulls to an 86-73 victory Wednesday, evening their second-round playoff series with Atlanta at one game apiece.
“Seeing Derrick get the award in front of the fans, we had to make sure we stayed focused,’’ Luol Deng said.
“For him to be on it, and give us that big effort, says a lot about him at such a young age. I remember when I was 22. That’s a lot of stuff going on.’’
Rose finished with 25 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and a big sigh of relief. He was 10-for-27 from the field, including 1-for-8 from outside the arc. He also had eight turnovers.
“My ankle’s fine,’’ Rose said, although people will wonder. “It wasn’t a factor in the game. Shots I normally just didn’t fall tonight.’’
But his running mates Joakim Noah and Luol Deng picked up the slack.
Noah played as if his grandfather were in the house, notching 19 points and 14 rebounds and ratcheting up the decibel meter with his hustle and his exhortations to the crowd.
“Joakim is big,’’ Deng said. “I’m never worried about Joakim. He’s the heart of this team. He plays hard, he gets the fans into it. His effort is always there, no matter what his numbers are.’’
And the under-appreciated Deng quietly contributed 14 points and 12 rebounds—while playing 46 minutes.
Most importantly, though, the Bulls’ defense was back. After shooting 51 percent in Game 1, the Hawks shot 34 percent.
After combining for 56 points on 20-for-34 shooting in Game 1, Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford had 27 points on 9-for-25 shooting.
“We were our own worst enemy tonight,’’ Hawks coach Larry Drew said. “We did a poor job with our shot selection. And when our shots didn’t fall, we panicked.’’
On a night when it cheered Rose wildly, the crowd booed Carlos Boozer (eight points and 11 rebounds), who is battling through a turf-toe injury, and showed it.
“I’m in pain, but I’m trying to play through it,’’ Boozer said.
The Boozer boos prompted an impassioned defense from Noah.
“Sometimes our home crowd is a tough place to play,’’ Noah said, mentioning the boos he heard as a rookie. “It’s tough to be booed in front of your home crowd.
“With Carlos, people have to understand that he’s playing through an injury. People are quick to bash one player. But we know we need Carlos to get where we want to go.’’
The Bulls know they have to play better. When they led 48-37 at the half, it was only the second time they have been ahead at the break in their seven playoff games.
But they outrebounded the Hawks 58-39 as well as tightening up their defense.
“They’re a tough team,’’ coach Tom Thibodeau said, “because they have the ability to make shots. Our defense did a pretty good job of getting back and getting set. And we did a great job of finishing our defense.’’
Jeff Teague did erupt for 21 points, but all in all the Bulls liked holding an explosive team to 73 points.
“That’s fine with us,’’ Rose said of the low scoring, “as long was we win.’’
“Our defense is all five of us,’’ Noah said. “It’s rotations, it’s not one single player. All of us being on the same page, knowing the rotations and being there mentally.’’
Comments Click here to view or make a comment