Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls took a 3-0 lead over the Indiana Pacers in Round 1 of the 2011 NBA Playoff match up. The Bulls have won all three games by a combined margin of just 13 points but those close margins ignore the fact that Chicago has the best end of game player to take the court in the playoffs since Michael Jordan was wearing number 23 in the same red and black uniform.
Mr. Kobe Bryant might disagree, but it's pretty hard to argue against Rose who has now won all three games in the final few minutes.
In Game 1 Rose hit a shot to tie the game with 1:27 left and then drew the defense and made a great pass to Kyle Kover for an open three that gave the Bulls the decisive lead. It looked like the scrappy Pacers might actually steal that road game just like the New Orleans Hornets did to Bryant's Lakers, but Rose would have none of that.
In Game 2 all he did was score 14 points in the fourth quarter and made a three-point play that gave his team the lead they would carry home. In Game 3 Rose did it again. He was 3-17 from the field with the game tied and less than 20 second remaining when he isolated at the top of the key with the entire Pacer defense focused on him. He drove left and hit a highly contested layup to put his team over the top.
When was the last time a single player closed three-straight playoff games like we've seen Rose do so far?