Derrick Rose Hits Game Winner In Ugly Knicks-Bulls Battle

The early game between the Bulls and the Knicks was like ice fishing compared to the late game’s hot, sun-drenched California shooting. While the Knicks shot 36 percent, the Bulls weren’t much better at 40. Despite the frigid stroke by both teams, it came down to the last seconds, and Derrick Rose lofted the prettiest little floater over a couple different Knicks for the win.

With only 10 seconds remaining in the aesthetically ugly affair between the Eastern Conference rivals, the Knicks were up just one point after Tyson Chandler split a pair of free throws. Rose took the pass from Jimmy Butler and dribbled to the right side of the basket where Chandler and a recovering Raymond Felton coiled to meet him. Rose jumped off his surgically repaired knee and launched an impossibly arced one-handed jumper from the right baseline. The shot took a long time to fall through and give the Bulls the lead. It deserves multiple viewings.

D-Rose had shot just 6-for-22 from the field before he took the game-winner. He has only played a single regular season game and three weeks of preseason basketball after a year and a half away from NBA-level action. Spike Lee‘s reaction said it best:

You gotta feel good about Rose’s heroics after the long layoff. Unless, of course, you’re a Knicks fan.

The Knicks still had 5.7 seconds left after Rose’s half-moon eventually found twine. But Carmelo Anthony‘s pull-up just inside the three-point arc clanked off, and the Bulls got their first victory of the year.

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