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NBA Rewind: Rose stuns James, Cavs with game-winning three
Former NBA player Derrick Rose. Mike DiNovo-Imagn Images

NBA Rewind: Derrick Rose stuns LeBron James, Cavaliers with game-winning three

All these years later, Derrick Rose remains one of the biggest "what-ifs" in NBA history. While injuries derailed his peak, the former MVP still managed to deliver some big moments on the grand stage.

On May 8, 2015, Rose and the Chicago Bulls found themselves matched up with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Each team managed to steal a win in the first two games, resulting in a highly competitive Game 3 matchup.

In the final moments of the game, the Bulls had possession of the ball with things tied up at 96. As expected, they called upon their star guard to come up big in the clutch. Chicago got the ball to Rose, where he went on to deliver one of the biggest moments of his career.

Rose peeled off a screen from Taj Gibson, getting Tristan Thompson matched up on him. He proceeded to let a three fly over the outstretched big man, and got the bank shot to fall as the final buzzer sounded. Thanks to his late-game heroics, Rose and the Bulls managed to take a 2-1 lead over LeBron James and company. 

Rose's buzzer-beater capped off a 30-point night for him. It would be the first of two times he passed this mark in the series, as he notched 31 points in Game 4. 

Unfortunately for the Bulls, Rose's clutch shot wasn't enough to swing the momentum in Chicago's favor. LeBron and company went on to win the next three games to punch their ticket to the conference finals. While things didn't go their way in the series, Rose's buzzer-beater is still one of the biggest plays of this era of the franchise. 

This moment marked the beginning of the end of the Rose era in Chicago. He'd return for the 2016 season, but it would be his final season playing for his hometown team. After that, the three-time All-Star bounced around the league in hopes of keeping his career alive. 

Despite dealing with multiple devastating injuries to start his NBA tenure, Rose managed to hang around the league for 15 years. Back in September, he officially announced his retirement at the age of 35.

Kevin McCormick

Kevin McCormick is a basketball writer for Yardbarker with years of experience in the journalism field. Based out of Philadelphia, he graduated from Holy Family University with a degree in Sports Management in 2019. Since then, Kevin has gone on to build a career in sports writing

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