Derrick Rose's buzzer-beating 3-pointer lifts Bulls in Game 3

After sitting out three years of the NBA playoffs, Derrick Rose is officially better than ever.

During the playoff runs of 2008-10, Rose missed some chances to pull of game-winning shots. On Friday at the United Center, he delivered.

Rose's 3-point bank shot at the buzzer gave the Bulls an intense 99-96 victory over Cleveland in Game 3. The Bulls lead the second-round playoff series 2-1 with Game 4 on Sunday afternoon.

Rose finished with 30 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds. LeBron James had 27 points, 14 assists and 8 rebounds. Neither team's star shot the ball well and both teams finished below 40 percent from the field.

The Bulls took a 94-93 lead with 33.6 seconds left when Jimmy Butler drove under the basket against J.R. Smith, stopped, turned and dropped in a layup.

James missed a driving attempt on the other end and Taj Gibson hit 2 free throws to make it 96-93 with 23.5 seconds on the clock. But Smith curled around a screen and dropped in a tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds left.

Rose dribbled up the court and had the ball ripped away by James, who clearly fouled Rose on the play. But the call was Bulls ball out of bounds with three seconds left. After a timeout, Rose caught the inbound pass, got a screen from Gibson and tossed in his long bank shot over Tristan Thompson.

Butler added 20 points, Mike Dunleavy scored 16 and Nikola Mirotic had 12.

The Bulls might have been too hyped at the start of the game. They missed several point blank shots or putbacks. They were being aggressive, attacking the basket and drawing contact.

But in the first half of this game, there weren't many fouls called in the paint. The Bulls usually ended up with someone on the floor after one of those drive and that player was slow getting back on defense. Cleveland recorded its biggest lead of the night at 24-16 late in the first quarter.

Check back for more on this game from Mike McGraw.