Bulls lose Derrick Rose, and their chance at the Finals

The injury took place with 1:23 to play in the Bulls’ 103-91 win. Rose drove to the basket and came to a jump stop in the lane. As he was jumping, though, he appeared to be hit with a sudden pain in the knee, grasping it as he was passing the ball. Rose stayed on the floor and the arena was hushed, and with good reason.

Though the Bulls finished with a 50-16 record this year, and though there is still a strong chance that they can beat the Sixers in the first round of the playoffs, losing Rose pretty much puts an end to Chicago’s hopes of breaking through to the NBA Finals.

Backups C.J. Watson and John Lucas III have been impressive during the regular season. The Bulls were 18-9, after all, without Rose in this year.

But the team’s offense is too heavily built around Rose for Chicago to have any real chance here in the postseason. Watson and Lucas just won’t be enough to carry the Bulls to a championship, not without their reigning MVP.

After the game, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau was asked why Rose was still on the floor. The Bulls were ahead by 12, with the game just about out of reach.

But, Thibodeau pointed out, Philadelphia had taken a 20-point Chicago lead and cut it in half in just a little more than three minutes. “I don’t work backwards like you guys,” Thibodeau said. “The score was going the other way. “

On the other side, Philadelphia coach Doug Collins removed Evan Turner, who has a slight hamstring injury, and veteran forward Elton Brand from the game with 4:54 to play and the Sixers down 18 points.

Collins, though, defended Thibodeau’s decision to keep Rose in the game. “Tom Thibodeau is the coach of the year,” Collins said. “He was last year and he is this year. And he knows what he is doing coaching his team. And so, Thibs is my buddy, I have the ultimate respect for him. From his standpoint, he wanted to finish that game the way he did. It’s awful that Derrick got hurt.”

Rose nearly had a triple-double in the game, scoring 23 points with nine rebounds and nine assists. He did struggle with his shooting, going 9-for-23, and committed five turnovers. Before he knew exactly what Rose’s injury was, Thibodeau appeared sullen, as if he was expecting the worst. He got it.

“It’s part of the game,” Thibodeau said. “There’s gonna be injuries. A guy can get hurt in practice, he can get hurt in the first five minutes of a game, he can get hurt at the end of a game. Can get hurt any time. You’ve got to deal with it. That’s part of this game. So, he has had a lot of injuries this year, it’s been unfortunate. But we do have more than enough to win with. Whatever the circumstances are, we’ll deal with it.”