Silly to blame Rose for loss to Heat
After a furious Bulls comeback fell short in Miami on Sunday, Derrick Rose blamed a familiar scapegoat — himself.
With 22 seconds left and the Bulls trailing by 1, Rose missed a pair of free throws. With about three seconds on the clock, he missed a 14-foot jumper that could have tied the score.
“It was definitely tough,” said Rose, who hadn't missed a free throw in the fourth quarter this season. “I've been in those situations before, knocked them down. But to miss both ... I let my team down.”
Correction: The team let Rose down.
The blame for this 97-93 loss to the Heat certainly doesn't belong on the guy who produced 34 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds and knocked down 12 straight free throws before 2 misses at the end.
The Bulls' second-leading scorers were Richard Hamilton and Joakim Noah with 11 points each. If someone — anyone — stepped up to give Rose a little help, this game wouldn't have hinged on last-minute free throws.
“It was me,” Rose said. “All the plays at the end. If I would have hit those free throws, it never would have gotten that far. I know I can live with it. It's just going to make me a stronger player.”
At the start of this season, Rose blamed the entire Eastern Conference finals loss to Miami on himself. Yet, everyone knows one superstar can't possibly take down the Heat's Power Trio all alone.
LeBron James poured in 35 points and Chris Bosh added 24, which made Dwyane Wade's 4-of-16 shooting performance immaterial.
If the Bulls are headed for a playoff rematch with Miami, they need to give Rose more help and it wasn't there Sunday. Hamilton hit just 4-of-16 shots himself. Carlos Boozer had 10 points and 9 rebounds in limited minutes because of foul trouble.
Hamilton was considered a game-time decision with a bruised thigh and is still feeling the groin strain that kept him out of 11 games. The Bulls will be counting on Hamilton's vast playoff experience to knock down big shots in the postseason. On Sunday, nothing significant was at stake.
Coach Tom Thibodeau used an odd strategy midway through the fourth quarter. When Miami switched James onto Rose, the Bulls went away from Rose and put the ball in Hamilton's hands, but found little success.
Overall, the Bulls deserve credit for taking Miami to the wire while Luol Deng remained sidelined by a left wrist injury. C.J. Watson also sat out with a wrist issue.
Deng is never going to shut down James, but he's the Bulls' best defensive matchup against the Ohio expatriate, who rode a bike to Sunday's game.
The Bulls (17-5) trailed by 12 points in the second quarter and were down 94-86 with two minutes remaining.
Boozer scored off a pass from Rose, then again after the Bulls grabbed 3 offensive rebounds. When Rose pulled in a defensive rebound, pushed the ball downcourt and completed a 3-point play, the Bulls were within 94-93 with 49 seconds left.
After Rose missed the free throws, James also bricked a pair at the line. Taj Gibson grabbed the defensive rebound and tried to call timeout, but Wade flew in from behind to knock the ball loose. After some confusion, the officials ruled an inadvertent whistle, held a jump ball at midcourt and Miami ended up keeping possession.
Mario Chalmers hit 1 of 2 free throws with 13 seconds left to make it 95-93. On the other end, Rose drove past the foul line, collided with Udonis Haslem and put up a jumper that fell short.
“The ball was on our side this time,” James said before climbing back on his bike.
This was a good game without much long-term meaning. There is a long way to go in the regular season and the Bulls will meet the Heat three more times.