Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose had a rough go of it in Game 5 against the Milwaukee Bucks, scoring 13 points on 5-of-20 shooting while turning the ball over six times and getting torched repeatedly by Michael Carter-Williams. Rose also went 0-of-7 from long range and only had two assists in the Bulls' 94-88 loss that sent the series back to Milwaukee for Game 6.
Derrick Rose only plays well when he gets to rest
Rose was woeful in a Game 5 loss to the Bucks, continuing a season-long trend of struggling with fewer than two days off between games.
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This poor showing from Rose came after an uneven performance in Game 4. He shot just 5-of-13 from the field, committed eight turnovers and let Jerryd Bayless cut behind him on Milwaukee's buzzer beater.
What makes these two efforts especially disappointing is what came before them. Rose notched 34 points, eight assists and five rebounds in vintage Game 3 performance. He made 12-of-23 shots overall and 5-of-9 from deep. That monster game led many to proclaim that he was “back” to his old form after three knee surgeries in three years.
Only, we’ve seen this act before this season. Rose had his share of games in the regular season where he looked like the guy who became the youngest MVP in NBA history in 2011, but the high level of success was never sustained.
That’s natural for a player in Rose’s situation. It’s tough to come back from all these injuries and play at the same elite level as before.
But when we look closely at his splits, an interesting trend pops up. In the regular season, Rose shot under 36 percent overall and just over 21 percent from three in 11 games with zero days between games. When you bump that up to one day of rest, he shot 40 percent overall and 31 percent from three in 25 games. Not awful numbers by any means, but still not all that impressive.
However, in the 15 games when the Bulls had more than one day between games, Rose shot nearly 46 percent overall. His three-point shooting was still down near 28 percent (his three-point shooting was bad no matter what), but his overall field goal percentage saw a significant jump, as did his true shooting percentage. It should also come as no surprise that the Bulls performed far better as a team with Rose on the court in these situatios.
The trend has continued against the Bucks. Rose started off the series with a bang, scoring 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting in an impressive Game 1 victory that came after two days off. Game 2 was after one day of rest, and while Rose played a strong floor game, he shot just 4-of-14 from the field. The monster effort in Game 3 came after two days between games, while the losses in Games 4 and 5 were both after a one-day break.
In the postseason, Rose has shot under 30 percent overall and 24 percent from three with one day of rest, and the Bulls are 1-2 in those three games. In the two games played with two days between them, Rose has shot 54 percent overall and 50 percent from three in two Chicago wins.
The good news for the Bulls is that Game 6 will occur on Thursday, giving Rose two full days to recover. If the trend holds, Rose will have a big game, which in turn gives Chicago a much better chance of finally closing out the series.
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