Derrick Rose's Game-Winning Shot Is Spark Bulls Need to Win NBA Title

Derrick Rose had an erratic regular season for the Chicago Bulls, one that was temporarily interrupted by another knee injury. The former MVP is proving in the postseason that he's the spark this team needs to win an NBA championship, a role that he is finally ready to handle based on the end of Game 3 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It was the kind of highlight that can define Rose's entire career. After J.R. Smith appeared to send the game into overtime with a three-pointer to tie the score at 96 with 10 seconds left, the 26-year-old went to work in what is now the defining moment of his career to this point.

There are turning points in the career of every great player, the moment when he becomes either the mythic figure his talent suggests or just another star in his era. Michael Jordan's came in 1989 with "The Shot," which fittingly came against Cleveland.

Speaking of Jordan, ESPN Stats & Info noted that Rose's game-winning shot was the first of its kind for the Bulls since His Airness' final shot for Chicago:

LeBron James, despite winning two MVP awards in 2009 and 2010, searched for his for years before finally breaking through in 2012 with Miami, and it was confirmed when he led the Heat to a second consecutive title the next season.

Rose's path has been unique because he essentially missed two full seasons in the prime of his career and left everyone around him with questions about whether or not he peaked when winning the 2010-11 MVP award at the age of 22.

Aaron Gash/Associated Press

Rose is also a player who understands the magnitude of the moment. Here's what he said after the game, per Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated:

"Them the shots you want to take as a player in my position," Rose said. "No, I did not call glass." 

There were lingering questions this year about who Rose was going to be as a basketball player, as he shot 40.5 percent from the floor (28 percent from three-point range) with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.53, per Basketball-Reference.com.

Yet this shot by Rose changes the course of this series and reverses a lot of negative history for the Bulls against James-led teams. It's hard to overstate how much it means. Rose got stronger as the game went on, scoring 24 of his 30 points in the second half (14 in the fourth quarter).

That's as notable as Rose's clutch shot because he has been Jekyll and Hyde based on the amount of rest he's had between games, according to Jacob Rosen of WFNY:

James has been Chicago's kryptonite in the playoffs, even though his work came during his time with the Heat. His teams have knocked off the Bulls twice (2011 Eastern Conference Finals, 2013 Eastern Conference Semifinals).

The 2013 series didn't feature Rose because he was still recovering from a torn ACL suffered in the playoffs the previous season.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

Now with Rose healthy, the Bulls are proving that they are ready to take that leap into the stratosphere. There's a long way to go in the series. Cleveland could wash all of the bad feelings from the end of Game 3 away quickly and even things up Sunday. This doesn't feel like a series that will end in five or six games.

Yet the dynamics of things shifted as soon as Rose's shot hit off the backboard and went through the hoop. The Bulls have been waiting for their best player to carry them in a moment like that, dominating in the fourth quarter and creating that final shot on his own.

Fans have considered Chicago to be one of the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference since the season started. The addition of Pau Gasol, who left Game 3 with what the team called a hamstring injury, in free agency last summer and growth of Jimmy Butler gave Tom Thibodeau's offense a dynamic it hadn't seen since he took over as head coach in 2010.

Now, with Rose looking more and more like the budding superstar from four years ago instead of the physically broken-down specimen from the previous two years, it's finally time to start thinking about titles in Chicago again.