Derrick Rose should be too old for that. It is assumed that there is too much tire wear. The engine should not jump and hum as before. And he certainly shouldn’t be the most important player on the basketball court in the most important moments of a game.
However, he was there in the garden on Sunday afternoon. The Knicks have already thrown every ounce of a 14-point lead to the Pelicans and then some, staring at a seven-point hole in less than three minutes to finish, their five-game winning streak feels good in jeopardy. , 2,000 fans are wondering if they should try to sneak downstairs for an early train home.
Unless Derrick Rose, 32, said, “Wait.”
“It’s a dog,” Julius Randle would later say, his voice dripping with respect. “He’s a winner.”
And even now, it’s not just reputation, not just old, low-definition video tapes and yellowed newspaper clippings. He hit a free throw to reach six. Hit a 6-foot leg to make four. He had 3.90 seconds left to sneak the Knicks in the 101-98 range.
And then, with 7.8 seconds to go, down 3, Rose reminded the world why she spent her time as the greatest guardian on the planet. Even elite guards sometimes forget how long it can take 7.8 seconds, sometimes wither and panic and throw a special hero ball. You see her every night.
Rose’s first option – Randle in the Corner – was covered. Seconds melted. He began to drive, fiercely enough for Lonzo Ball to think he was serious and pushed Reggie Bullock around the corner. Several seconds melted, but many of them remained. Few guards remember this at this time. Rose did it. Seeing the opening, he hit Bullock in the corner. Bullock did his job, sending the game to overtime.
Twenty minutes later, the Knicks came out on the floor winning 122-112.
“That’s always been Derrick,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said at the end of the game, with the Knicks improving 31-27. “He is a great teammate, he always puts the team first, he had a nice career. Apart from the times when he was not healthy, this is who he is. No moment is too big for him. ”
The whole day had felt like a long garden party, an interactive delicacy for the people in the house. The second Randle-Zion Williamson match took place in a week, which played a draw. All the old sound standards were exposed.
“M! V! P! ” they chanted for Randle.
When Randle’s wing would do something they joined the PA man: „R! J! BARRETT! ”
When a stop was needed, the old standby came: “Deee-FENSE! Deee-FENSE! ”
When officials got involved: “REF! YOU! [STINK]! REF! YOU! [STINK]! ”
The Knicks have not always been great, but they have always been Knicks of 2021, resilient and formidable. There was a remarkable moment in the Old Testament when Brandon Ingram of New Orleans got up for a dive, but was intercepted by Nerlens Noel of the Knicks, who dismissed the blockade and then fell hard in court, appearing injured.
In an instant, four of Noel’s teammates jumped off the bench and lifted him to his feet. all while the game continues on the opposite end of the field. It’s probably not legal percent, but the crowd loved it. And Noel got back to sprinting to join his teammates once he was on his feet.
However, Rose was the one who made the whole day, even in the free basketball portion, stealing the ball from Ingram on OT’s first possession of the Pelicans and hitting the leading lay that gave Knicks the final lead.
“I don’t have to do much,” Rose said of her 35-minute day, 23 points, five assists, plus 22 days. “Back in Chicago, I always had the pressure on me. Now I just see what the game needs. ”
Thibodeau, of course, was there in Chicago when Rose was at the top, when he won an MVP, when he was the equivalent of a child’s basketball with the 99 mph fast balloon, which simply overwhelmed everyone and he never had to learn the art of pitching. Rose is now a pitcher and an artist, and her coach is as enchanted by what has become her old star as anyone.
“In the beginning, like most players, he did it with talent,” Thibodeau said. “She did not have the experience she has now. Now combine the mental part with the talent and you have a different type of player. ”
“Always read correctly,” Bullock said.
Rose said: “We haven’t had a series of victories like this in a while. I’m glad. ”
On Sunday afternoon at the Garden, stretching out some old magic molecules, Derrick Rose simply decided he wasn’t having fun yet. You’re never too old for that.