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The two best games of the playoffs thus far have clearly been Game 4 between the Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls and Game 1 between the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs, which had a number of similarities.
Both games went multiple overtimes. Both games had plenty of big shots. Both games had role players becoming unlikely heroes.
And unfortunately for the Nets and Warriors, both games had huge collapses late in regulation.
Can Derrick Rose still come back this season to help the Chicago Bulls against the Miami Heat in the Conference semifinals?
Much has been made of why he – despite being cleared to play by doctors some time ago – has still been unavailable to play for the team. Perhaps there wouldn’t have been so much scrutiny on the point guard, who is still in the process of recovering from the torn ACL he suffered in last season’s playoffs, had he and the team simply announced that he’d miss the remainder of the season. That would have ended all the curiosity and criticism. If he did comeback? Great. Now he would be a hero for doing so. Case in point: David Lee of the Golden State Warriors was expected to miss the remainder of the season after tearing his hip flexor, but made a sudden appearance in Game 6 of the first round and was recognized as an inspiration. Either way, Rose is not ready to say he is done just yet, from Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today:
Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose has his reason why he won’t just say he’s not playing this season.
It’s because Rose, deep down, still thinks he could return sometime during the playoffs even though he hasn’t played since he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of last season’s first-round playoff series.
He doesn’t want to rule anything in or out, even though the Bulls plan on not having Rose available this season.
“Still in the air. I might have a chance,” Rose said Monday morning the Bulls shootaround, about nine hours before Game 1 of Chicago’s Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Miami Heat.
None of us really understand what exactly Rose is going through with the knee and why he still doesn’t feel confident enough to try to play on it. With key players on his team ailing with an assortment of injuries, they certainly could use anything they can get from Rose. However, no one on his team is necessarily pressuring him to do so. He addressed this particular topic, along with Steve Kerr’s call-out of the situation on national TV:
“There’s no pressure at all. I haven’t had any pressure from anyone – not in the organization, not from my teammates,” he said. “They know I’m put everything I have into trying to come back as fast as possible. But just trying to be smart with the whole situation and just take my time.
“It’s definitely hard. I know this will be over with pretty soon. Who knows when it’s going to stop? I can’t get down on myself.”
TNT analyst and former Bulls guard Steve Kerr recently said, “If Derrick is OK and there’s no threat to further injury, I think he’s got to play. … Maybe he owes it to his teammates.”
Rose answered Kerr’s statement.
“Everybody has their own opinion,” he said. “The key words that he said were, ‘If I’m ready.’ (Right now) I’m not ready. I’m just trying to take my time and really, really be smart.”
Rose will not put a percentage on his physical or mental health.
“I don’t want to say no percentage,” Rose said. “I wish I knew, but I know I’m feeling pretty good.”
With the Bulls shocking the world with a victory in Game 1 over the Heat on the road, they certainly could use Rose to help complete what would be an incredible upset. Unless Rose makes the decision to give it a go, however, this may be a pointless situation to continue to wonder about. Oh, and make sure you never mention it to Joakim Noah, because he just might get upset with you. Check out what he said, from KSBW:
“Derrick’s a brother,” Noah said. “And to see him go through this is tough, but at the end of the day it’s really funny how quick people are to judge. But people don’t know what it’s like to lead a team, especially after you tore your ACL. “If you tore your ACL and you have to be the starting point guard and have the expectations that Derrick has, then maybe you can judge, but everybody who hasn’t been in that situation before should really shut up because I feel like it’s just so unfair to him and to this team. We’re fighting, and everybody’s going to just s— on somebody who’s been giving so much to this organization. It’s crazy to me.”
Onto other news from around the league:
And just like that, the second round is upon us. If that felt a little abrupt, don’t worry: it was. Somehow the first series to be set is the last to get underway, which I’m sure Gregg Popovich and the Spurs won’t mind. Mark Jackson and the Warriors probably won’t mind too much either, with Andrew Bogut and Steph Curry’s ankle troubles. For more on the Warriors and Spurs, check out Jan Hubbard’s latest column.
The other series that starts tomorrow will be the Bulls and the Heat, and while it won’t be Derrick Rose vs. LeBron James, there’s plenty of intrigue with the Bulls if you can get over their All-Star point guard’s absence. Just watching them dig down to their deepest reserves of grit against the Nets should have done that. In another new column on Sheridan Hoops, Jeremy Bauman looks at what the Bulls have accomplished without their franchise player.
Still, the rumors will continue to abound over Rose, and not without reason: he still hasn’t ruled out that he’ll return, and it’s not unreasonable to presume that the best chance the Bulls have of knocking off Miami is with him in the lineup. So let’s start off today’s roundup of the latest news from around the NBA with an item on Rose:
Hinrich’s absence a big factor for Bulls
Chicago may have been without top scorer Luol Deng in Thursday’s 95-92 Game 6 home loss to Brooklyn, but its loss of Kirk Hinrich for a second straight game may have hurt the team more. Deron Williams has played better over the last pair of Net wins with Hinrich out of commission, which is a major reason why the series has swung in Brooklyn’s favor.
Hinrich last appeared on the floor in last Saturday’s Game 4 triple-overtime classic. He played 60 minutes, scored 18 points and dished out 14 assists. Chicago raced out to a 3-1 series lead. Hinrich hasn’t played and the Bulls haven’t won since then. Deron Williams has also been more productive against Hinrich’s undersized understudy, Nate Robinson, and it’s shown in his stats in addition to the wins and losses:
| Deron Williams | Minutes | FG % | 3 FG % | Points | Assists | FTA |
| First 4 | 42.75 | 41.3 | 37 | 20 | 7.75 | 5.25 |
| Last 2 | 40 | 42.3 | 37.5 | 20 | 10.5 | 9 |
There isn’t much of a difference between Williams’ field goal and scoring numbers, but he’s been able to get an additional 2.75 assists per game and is getting to the line with more consistency. And it’s not just Hinrich’s defense that impacts the Bulls so negatively.
“Yes, it was big,” Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo said of Hinrich’s injury. “It affects the game because he’s one of their best players, not just as a defender.”
Hinrich’s offensive impact rose during his four games on the floor for Chicago, improving on his regular season averages like an impactful veteran should.
| Kirk Hinrich | Minutes | FG % | 3 FG % | Points | Assists | Steals |
| Reg Season | 29 | 37.7 | 39 | 7.7 | 5.2 | 1.1 |
| Postseason | 40.8 | 43.2 | 36.4 | 11.3 | 5.8 | 2 |
So Hinrich’s impact has been noticed on both sides of the floor. Chicago is “hopeful” Hinrich will play in Saturday night’s Game 7, and he could be the x-factor for either team dependent on whether he plays or not.
Healthy Bogut does in Denver
David Lee may have only played one minute, giving Golden State an emotional charge during Thursday night’s Game 6. But it was Andrew Bogut’s sensational play that allowed the Warriors to defeat Denver 92-88 and take the series in a dramatic 4-2 upset.
It was Bogut, finally healthy and living up to his potential after coming to the Bay Area in a trade that jettisoned fan favorite Monta Ellis to Milwaukee, who stole the show and fulfilled the team’s vision of a successful run of sustained success for a long-moribund franchise. Bogut scored 14 points and took down 21 rebounds, the most for a Warrior player in a postseason game since 1987, which is an incredible accomplishment against a Denver team that was one of the top rebounding teams this season.
Golden State is pretty set in the backcourt, with Stephen Curry leading the charge and Klay Thompson and Jarrett Jack doing a better job of complementing Curry’s skill-set than Ellis ever could. The Warriors have been looking for a frontline big man for years, so they took a calculated risk on dealing for Bogut. He was injured a lot while Ellis was continuing his scoring ways with the Bucks, so folks grew frustrated with the deal on the Golden State end. Bogut was hurt on and off throughout the season, playing in fits and starts with a minutes quota and many a day off.
“It’s very emotional for me because I’ve had a nightmare of a year,” said Bogut.
The team’s patience and due-dilligence with Bogut’s injury is finally playing off. And when Bogut plays extended minutes, the W’s are a tough team to beat. Golden State is 15-8 when Bogut plays at least 25 minutes in a game, and had a pretty good regular season, but he’s been an absolute monster against the Nuggets in the postseason.
| Bogut | Minutes | FG % | Points | Rebs | Blocks |
| Regular Season | 24.6 | 45.1 | 5.8 | 7.7 | 1.7 |
| Postseason | 27.7 | 63.2 | 8.2 | 10.3 | 2.3 |
So Golden State moves on to face a San Antonio team with Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter, among others, down low. The two teams split its four-game season series, and if Bogut is healthy and playing at the level he played against Denver, perhaps Golden State will make its second round series more interesting than people would expect.
Shlomo Sprung loves advanced statistics and the way they explain what happens on the court. He is also the web editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. A 2011 graduate of Columbia University’s Journalism School, he has previously worked for the New York Knicks, The Sporting News, Business Insider and other publications. His website is SprungOnSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
Opportunity doesn’t knock twice. For the Nets, a banged up Bulls team gave the Nets a chance to stay in this series. Thanks to Brook Lopez, Brooklyn is still alive. Home playoff games afforded the Hawks the chance to reverse their fortunes, but how drastically it turned this series around is astounding. And who will get the opportunity to shine for the Thunder in Russell Westbrook’s absence? All this and more in today’s StatBox playoff breakdown.
