Pretty crazy basketball game last night between the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat. It is always a great game when these two teams meet and always great to see the Bulls pull out the win. The game was back and forth for a lot of the game and the Bulls had a decent lead with little time to go in the fourth quarter. This was Derrick Rose’s first game back from his ankle injury and he was scoreless in the first half for the first time in his NBA career. Rose ultimately finished with 2 points and 8 assists, while Korver finished with 17 points and C.J. Watson finished with 16 points and 9 assists. The Bulls ultimately pulled out the win with a final score of 96-86. Korver was on fire from behind the three-point line and was hitting huge shots when the Bulls needed it the most. C.J. Watson also had a phenomenal game and hit the biggest shot of the game when he pumped faked and hit a step back three pointer in Wade’s face with 2 seconds left to tie the game at 84-84. Unbelievable performances by both “bench” players that ultimately allowed the Bulls to be victorious.
Good teams find ways to win ball games, and the Bulls found a way to somehow walk away with a win last night. The most amazing part about the game last night was Chicago’s ability to adapt and change their game plan to allow them to win the game. The question of whether or not to stay with your all-star, MVP point guard in Derrick Rose, or to let Watson take over was a pressing issue last night for the Bulls. I think that this is a really interesting question to ask in sports and in games in general which is the idea of do you stick with your “best” players, or do you go to who ever is playing the best that night. Even though Rose was not playing all that well, the Bulls knew that it would be in their best interest to put Rose back in the game. Rose still wasn’t playing that well in the final minutes of the game and the Bulls coach made a pretty gutsy play by taking out their all-star and putting in C.J. Watson who had been having a good game thus far. This was a huge decision to pull the MVP of the league from the final minutes of the game and put in Watson to help secure the win. This was certainly a gamble that ended up paying off seeing as Watson was the guy who hit the crazy step-back to put the game into overtime. I know Rose is a professional, but I still can’t help but think about what he is thinking when this all happened. This is also horrible time for Rose to be injured/not playing that well considering that playoffs are right around the corner. 
I think that this is a huge question in sports that is asked all the time and that is the idea of do choose to live and die by your best players? Or do you find a way to adapt to the game and let who ever is playing the best that night finish the game? It is hard to know what the right answer is, and both can be the right move in different situations. Luckily for the Bulls, adapting to the game was the right move last night!!
I am a Lakers fan so obviously in my mind going with your best player (Kobe) in the clutch is the most effective way of winning games. This is because Kobe is considered one of the most clutch players in the history of the game. In the case of the Bulls, Derrick Rose is currently playing at a similar level of play as Kobe. While Rose doesn't have as many championships as Kobe, he still has the capacity to take over a game in the final seconds and win. In this specific situation, Rose was coming off a long break from playing basketball and shouldn't be expected to come in a make the game winner. While he is the most recent MVP, Watson proved himself on the court in previous games, with Rose on the bench, that he could win. Because of Watson's consistent numbers combined with Rose's struggles coming back from an injury led Tom Thibodeau trusting Watson with the last shot. If the situation was any different, I would have trusted the shot with Derrick Rose.
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