Derrick Rose silenced his critics on Monday after having a spectacular performance in Chicago Bulls' highly-anticipated preseason game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Columbus, Ohio.
Rose, who is coming off a second major knee injury, erupted for 30 points on 12-for-18 shooting from the field, including 4-for-5 clip from beyond the arc, while also adding five rebounds and three assists.
Bulls center Joakim Noah said that he was impressed with Rose's confidence on Monday night, particularly with the way the former Most Valuable Player outran their opponents.
"The fastest guy on the court by far," Noah said of Rose via Bleacher Report.
Noah also added that seeing Rose play like the way he did against the Cavaliers is a big morale booster to their squad as they continue to prepare for the 2014-15 NBA season where they will be considered as a heavy favorite to win the Eastern Conference title along with Cleveland.
"It feels great," Noah said via ESPN Chicago. "Just seeing him move like that is big for our team. He's definitely one of our big guns -- he's our big gun -- so just to see him play like that, I know how hard he's worked to get there. I just feel like if we just keep improving we can do something special."
"It brought up old memories, man," Bulls guard Jimmy Butler said of Rose's performance. "Just a good positive thing to take from this game. Derrick looked great."
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau also raved about the 26-year-old's game, saying that the five-year veteran made the game easier for them on Monday night.
"You're talking about an MVP-caliber player," Thibodeau said. "So it makes the game easy for everybody. He's getting easy baskets in transition, he's attacking in the pick-and-roll, he's in the paint making plays, so it's a positive."
Rose, on the other hand, played down his performance against the Cavaliers, saying that he is just letting the game get to him to make his teammates comfortable playing with him.
"The team is feeling more comfortable with me being on the floor," Rose said. "Feeling comfortable with me just picking my spots, getting people involved and just trying to pick spots in the game where I can really affect the game."
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