Down by two with 4.3 seconds left in overtime, the Chicago Bulls had the ball on the sideline. Instead of running the standard ISO set for Rose, the Bulls got a little bit creative late:
As the ball gets handed to Kyle Korver, Joakim Noah sets a screen for Rose and Rose curls around it.
Noah then flashes to the basketball and Korver gets it to him. After getting the ball to Noah, Korver starts towards the corner and it Rose starts towards the ball. It seems as if the Bulls wanted it to look like the Rose and Korver were going to switch places and Rose was going to get a dribble handoff.
Wanting to deny a dribble handoff and keep the ball out of Rose’s hands, Grant Hill jumps what he thinks is Rose’s path. Rose notices this and cuts backdoor.
Rose leaves Hill in the dust and heads towards the rim as Joakim Noah makes the pass. Another important part of the play is the fact that the Bulls put two good shooters (C.J. Watson and Luol Deng) on the opposite side of the court. This prevents any help defense at the rim.
Grant Hill can’t get to Rose in time and the help is late, allowing for Rose to tie the game with 0.1 second left. Here is the play in real time:
Now, I don’t know if Rose’s backdoor cut was designed or if Rose did it on his own, but credit needs to go to Tom Thibodeau, Derrick Rose, and Joakim Noah. Thibodeau for putting Rose in the position to be able to cut backdoor if Hill overplayed him, and Rose for executing. Noah did a great job of staying calm as the clock ran down and waiting for the play to develop instead of forcing a shot or a bad pass.
