Derrick Rose grimaces in pain after suffering a knee injury in an opening-round game in Chicago. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
The Chicago Bulls will have to go without All-Star guard Derrick for the remainder of the 2012 playoffs after the team reported that the 2011 MVP tore the ACL on his left knee in Saturday’s opening-round game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Rose, who has battled all sorts of injuries all season, crumbled to the ground after he drove the lane with about 1:20 left and the Bulls leading by 12. He was going for one of his signature pull-up floaters when he came to a jump-stop and seemed to change his mind as the 76ers’ Spencer Hawes and Lavoy Allen rotated over, passing off to a teammate before an awkward landing.
Team medical personnel immediately rushed out and tended to Rose for several minutes as he was writhing in pain near the baseline before helping him to the locker room. Rose was taken to the hospital where it was discovered that he damaged his ACL after an MRI was done on his left knee.
Asked why Rose was still in the game, Thibodeau pointed out that Philadelphia was making a run. Rose checked back in with just under eight minutes left and the lead got as high as 20 shortly after that before the Sixers made another push.
”I don’t work backward like you guys do,” Thibodeau told the Associated Press as he defended his decision to keep Rose in the game despite the double-digit lead. ”The score was going the other way.”
The grim news is a devastating blow to Chicago, top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference and a favorite to reach the NBA Finals along with Miami, Oklahoma City, San Antonio and the L.A. Lakers.