The DRose Show Receives Rave Reviews in NBA on TNT Finale at Madison Square Garden

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, NYC. NBA on TNT's regular season finale was not only another meaningful game for the Chicago Bulls to tune up for a deep playoff run, but it was also another game on a national stage for DRose to once again put his special game on display for the world and try to convince the final voters that he is the most deserving of the NBA Most Valuable Player Award this season.

Rose, as he has all season, did not disappoint.

After his last nationally televised game, against the Orlando Magic last Sunday, Derrick Rose was primed and ready to have another strong game, trying to follow up the dominant 39 point performance he had against Orlando.

The New York Knicks are no joke this year. They are playoff bound, having locked up the 6th seed in the East and were riding a 7 game winning streak coming into the game. The Knicks were home to face a Chicago Bulls team that were still going all out in the hopes of getting the best record in the NBA and home-court throughout the NBA Playoffs.

They managed to hang in with the top seeded Chicago Bulls and NBA MVP leader, Derrick Rose, for the first two quarters, raining down 3-pointers at a 50% clip, and as the buzzer for the end of the second quarter sounded, the Knicks went into halftime with a 55 - 52 lead.

"For this NBA season, Derrick Rose was the best player on the planet," says NBA on TNT's Charles Barkley.

However, coming out of the locker room, the Chicago Bulls decided to flex their league best defensive muscle. The Bulls went on a 26 - 2 run to start the third quarter mostly fueled by defensive stops and opportunistic fast breaks that put pressure on the Knicks poor transition defense.

Two of the most incredible plays came in the run. The first started with an incredible block and takeaway by Carlos Boozer on a Bill Walker drive. Boozer gave up the ball to Ronnie Brewer who hit DRose with an athletic alley-oop, one-handed finish.

The second play was a great anticipation pick off of an attempted crosscourt pass by DRose, who found himself all alone and decided to give the Madison Square Garden crowd a snapshot opportunity. Rose finshed the steal with a two-handed clutch reverse dunk. The play gave the Bulls their biggest lead of the night, a 21-point cushion.

The Knicks were able to chip away at the lead with scrappy play, managing to get within 7 points at one point, but it seemed that the huge 3rd quarter stampede by Chicago effectively broke the will of Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks. The result of the game was never again truly in doubt.

Here are highlights of the CHICAGO BULLS at NEW YORK KNICKS:


At the end of NBA on TNT's broadcast, the crew, including Chris Webber, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley, talked about their picks for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award.

Each named "Derrick Rose" their choice for MVP, for numerous reasons, but it was Sir Charles that cut through the long explanations needed to satisfy those who only examine box scores and got straight to the point:

"For this NBA season, Derrick Rose was the best player on the planet."