BOSTON — It has been more than a year since both Derrick Rose and Iman Shumpert went down with ACL injuries during last year’s NBA playoffs.
The date was April 28, 2012.
Now, more than 12 months later, Rose will remain on the sidelines tonight when the Chicago Bulls face the Nets in a Game 7 in Brooklyn.
Shumpert, meantime, has been back since January and played arguably the best game of his young career as the Knicks ousted the Celtics, 88-80, in Game 6 for their first playoff series win since 2000.
“Shumpert tonight was their best player…Those were big plays,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said after Shumpert went for 17 points, including 3-for-3 from the arc, to go with six rebounds and two steals in the win.
Shumpert made arguably the biggest play of the game when he snapped the Celtics’ 20-0 run by getting out and stealing a ball from Paul Pierce and driving in for a layup that made it 77-69.
“I actually saw that they had an advantage,” Shumpert said. “It was a two-on-one on the weak side. I was just thinking that I was going to try and get that steal because I knew he was going to try and throw it. Luckily I was able to deflect it and end that run, give us a little breathing room.”
After the Celtics cut it to 77-73, the Knicks won the game thanks to a 10-2 run during which Carmelo Anthony scored seven points, including a 3-pointer — his first after 19 straight misses.
“I think Iman’s steal and Melo’s 3 were two of the biggest plays coming down the stretch,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said.
After going down in the third quarter of Game 1 against Miami a year ago, Shumpert is overjoyed at being able to contribute in a meaningful way this as the Knicks won their first postseason series since Bill Clinton was in the White House.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” he said. “The Boston Celtics are battle-tested. It was huge for me to get the experience of playing against them and playing the whole series without getting hurt. It was a dream come true for me, so I’m just glad to be able to move to the second round.”
Shumpert came back from his ACL injury in January, perhaps a bit too soon. But he averaged 9.0 points and 1.8 steals in the series and the Knicks will need him to continue to defend and hit open shots against the Pacers, the NBA’s best defensive and best 3-point defensive team.
Meantime, Rose continues to be fodder for critics in the media and on Twitter as he sits out on a Bulls team that is stricken with injuries.
“If Derrick Rose DOES ever come back in our lifetime, I honestly wonder if his teammates will or even can respect him,” Tweeted NotBillWalton, a Bill Walton parody account.
One year after both men went down on the same day, Rose said he’s feeling about as good as he has all season.
“The more I make shots and make open corner 3’s, I think my teammates start to trust me a little bit more every game,” he said. “Defensively, they’ve always pushed me and always have trusted me to do my job.
“With the energy of the playoffs, I think it just took a step up.”
