New York Knicks: 4 heroes who helped spark a comeback win in Game 2
By Rodney Pyram
New York Knicks’ heroes of Game 2: Derrick Rose
Enough cannot be said about how important Derrick Rose is to this Knicks offense. Five minutes into the first quarter, Rose was inserted into the game for the struggling Elfrid Payton and he wouldn’t look back. He would go on to lead the team in scoring with 26 points on 9-21 shooting from the field in 39 minutes played.
He injected instant offense to the team right before things started to slip away and kept them in the game with his ability to penetrate the heart of the defense and finish off the glass. He would also keep the defense honest with his much-improved step-back jump shot.
Coach Tom Thibodeau would go on to start Rose over Payton to begin the third quarter and he continued to torch the Hawks defense by pushing the tempo and hitting a couple of 3’s. Make no mistake, without Rose the Knicks do not come close to winning this game.