Chicago Bulls play-off hope grows if Derrick Rose can bloom

The Bulls will get to the second round, eventually. Whether there’s any real threat lurking of a deeper run will largely be reliant on whether Derrick Rose shows up as Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde.

How far the Chicago Bulls go in the NBA play-offs depends on which Derrick Rose, right, shows up - the dominating force or the mis-firing guard. Maury Tannen / EPA

Derrick Rose, and with him the Chicago Bulls, appear tantalising again.

It seems the never-ending cycle with Rose and Chicago.

Just when they had been written off for this season, when there was no way Rose would be near his peak for the play-offs coming back from another injury, they defeated Milwaukee three times and looked dangerous again.

Playing his first post-season game since 2012, in Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks, Rose had 23 points and looked as elusive and dynamic as he was when he became the league’s youngest MVP, at 22, in 2011.

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Before the injury, the promise of return and renewal and, well, the injury again.

We’ve seen this movie before with Rose.

And the Bulls’ hope always seem tied to him. In Game 2, Jimmy Butler and the Bulls’ big men paced the win ad Rose added a largely ineffective 15 points on 4-of-14 shooting.

In Game 3, Rose exploded, this time for 34 points on 12-of-23 shooting with eight assists as he proved the central figure in a double-overtime victory to send the Bulls up 3-0.

And then, in Game 4, Rose shot 5-of-13 and turned the ball over eight times – including on the final, potentially winning possession, right before he missed his defensive assignment for the losing lay-up.

The Bulls will get to the second round, eventually.

Whether there’s any real threat lurking of a deeper run will largely be reliant on whether Rose shows up as Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde.

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