The 2015 second-round playoff series between the No.2 seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and No.3 ranked Chicago Bulls featured two of the league’s biggest superstars, LeBron James and Derrick Rose .
James was in his first season back in Cleveland after playing the previous four years in Miami. Meanwhile, Rose played only 10 games in the past two seasons after suffering an ACL tear in the 2012 NBA Playoffs.
The Bulls stole Game 1 in Cleveland behind Rose’s 25 points, but the Cavs bounced back, with LeBron scoring 33 in Game 2 to tie the series. Game 3 was close, and the Bulls were victorious after D-Rose hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer.
Looking back at that playoff series, Rose recalled his stoic-faced celebration with Joakim Noah in the NBA.com feature Memory Lane.
“You know when I look back at this, the time of like when I turned into your arms, like that was crazy,” said Rose. ” It was like that, stop playing.”
A scintillating second half by D-Rose in Game 3
Playing with something to prove after his ACL injury, Rose had one of the best playoff series performances of his NBA career after putting up just 17.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game during the regular season. None was bigger than Game 3, where he took over the second half of the game.