Rose Tears ACL, Bulls Win Game One

In a sickening and devastating manner, the Bulls' reigning MVP Derrick Rose tore his ACL late in Saturday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers to open the playoffs.  At the time, the Bulls led by 12 without about 1:20 to play in the contest.  Rose did a jump-stop and lept into the air, and it appeared as he landed on the jump-stop that he really was hurt.  Rose was down and tended to by trainers that helped him off the court.  The Bulls went on to win 103-91, but questions as to the severity of the injury lingered and Rose was taken to a hospital for MRI.  Results showed the worst, as Rose tore his ACL and will be out for the remainder of the season.

This news to me felt like I was punched in the gut as ESPN Radio broke it on my drive home from work. It was a sickening feeling for all Bulls fans to know they will have to go on without their MVP.  Rose missed 27 games this year, and the Bulls went a very good 18-9 in those, but these games were not playoff contests.  Just as the team appeared to be healthy and ready for a deep playoff run after receiving the top seed by going 50-16 in the regular season despite a litany of injury, Rose crumbled to the ground in pain and Bulls fans held their breath.  The worst was realized when news broke that Rose's injury was related to his left knee.  The Bulls will have to move on without him and could/should still win the series against Philly, but their road got a lot tougher.

Let's talk a little bit about the fact that Rose was playing with 1:20 left in the game.  The outcome was never in question.  I know head coach Tom Thibodeau may win his second coach of the year award in a row, but there is absolutely no excuse for having Derrick in the game at this point.  People can say the injury could have happened at any time and it was just a matter of time, but it didn't happen at a different time.  It happened when the guy shouldn't have been in the game.  Yes, he missed a lot of time with injury this year, but I am not giving Thibs a pass on this one especially when Watson and Lucas III are more than capable of keeping the outcome of the game the same.  They have shown brilliant flashes against teams like the Miami Heat, so who's to say they couldn't hold a 12 point lead with just about 80 seconds left on the clock?  Rose should have been resting with a towel on his head and a Gatorade in hand, but now he will begin a painful road to recovery.    Thibs still deserves a lot of blame for riding Rose too hard in this situation.  Some may blame the condensed schedule and Rose's inability to ever fully get healthy from his injury.  This situation is very unfortunate, but I don't want to sit here and pout about it.  The players aren't doing that, and they still have a lot of basketball ahead of them.  Watson and Lucas III are going to be put in the spotlight big time now.

The Bulls can get by the 76ers, but it may not be an easy task.  They know how to win without Rose, but it will be increasingly difficult come second round.  The Celtics look bad today and Rondo will be suspended for bumping a referee, so the Atlanta Hawks could very well be in their way to getting to the Miami Heat.  If the Bulls were to make it that far, I can promise you my passion and intensity for that Heat series would be even greater because of the hatred I possess for them.  If the Bulls could hang with and beat the Heat, this city would erupt.  It all rests on the shoulders of Watson and Lucas III.  The other guys on the roster play their roles, but these two men have to run the offense that Rose did.  They have proven they are capable, so it is just a matter of executing it in the biggest pressure situations of their lives.

It will be interesting to see what these Bulls can do, but I still have faith that they can make a deep run.  A lot of people have jumped off the ship and given up hope on the season, but I am not one of those.  Those aren't true fans right there.  True fans know this will be tough but still have faith that the team can overcome this huge obstacle.