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Bad bounce for the Bulls
League MVP Rose done after ACL tears
Derrick Rose is helped off the court by trainers Jeff Tanaka (left) and Fred Tedeschi after going down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee Saturday in a playoff game versus Philadelphia. (NUCCIO DINUZZO / MCCLATCHY NEWS SERVICE)
CHICAGO — Derrick Rose crumbled to the floor, clutching his left knee. His season is over and the Bulls’ title hopes just might be finished, too.
Rose will miss the rest of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee late in Chicago’s 103-91 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Saturday’s playoff opener, casting big cloud over a team eyeing a championship run.
He scored 23 points and was playing more like the league’s reigning MVP after missing 27 games because of injuries during the regular season, but his injury-plagued season came to an end as the Bulls were wrapping up an impressive victory.
Rose crumbled to the ground after he drove the lane with about 1:20 left and the Bulls leading by 12. He was going for a layup when he came to a jump-stop and seemed to change his mind as the 76ers’ Spencer Hawes and Lavoy Allen rotated over, passing off to a teammate before an awkward landing.
Team medical personnel immediately rushed out and tended to Rose for several minutes as he was writhing in pain near the baseline before helping him to the locker-room. Rose was taken to the hospital, and the results of the MRI were not good.
Whether Rose should have been in the game at that point figures to be debated a long time around Chicago. He checked back in with just under eight minutes left and the lead got as high as 20 shortly after that before the Sixers chipped away at it.
With Philadelphia making a push, coach Tom Thibodeau decided to stay with Rose.
"I don’t work backward like you guys do," Thibodeau said. "The score was going the other way."
Veteran guard Richard Hamilton defended the decision, saying, "Philly was making a run. In playoff basketball, you never want to give a team confidence... They made a little run, so we needed guys that could put the ball in the basket."
Losing Rose is obviously a huge blow for a team that made the conference finals last year and captured the top overall seed for the second straight season.
"He’s had a lot of injuries this year," Thibodeau said. "It’s been unfortunate. But we do have more than enough to win with."
— The Associated Press
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