MCT/Cleveland
It’s only fitting that Iman Shumpert and Derrick Rose are sharing a playoff court this week.
Three years ago, separated only by a few hours and 1,380 miles, the two shared devastating knee injuries on the same day.
First it was Rose tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee late in a playoff game against the Philadelphia 76ers. A few hours later Shumpert suffered the same injury, to the same knee, during the third quarter of the New York Knicks’ loss to the Miami Heat.
Both players have spent the past three years trying to rediscover their old form, and both have shown flashes of brilliance in this conference semi-final, which resumes Friday at United Center knotted 1-1.
Rose scored 25 points and made three 3-pointers in the Bulls’ Game 1 victory, while Shumpert has been terrific since Kevin Love was lost for the postseason to a shoulder injury.
In his last three playoff games, Shumpert has shot 9-of-19 on 3-pointers — the exact numbers Love shot in his three postseason games prior to the shoulder injury. He has averaged 17.3 points, six rebounds, a block and two steals in the three games since Love was injured.
Shumpert started the last two at shooting guard in place of the suspended J.R. Smith and has played well enough to remain a starter, but that’s a decision coach David Blatt will have to make after Shumpert’s availability for Friday is determined. Shumpert strained his left groin in Wednesday’s victory and his status for Game 3 won’t be determined until Friday.
Blatt said Shumpert arrived at Cleveland Clinic Courts on Thursday feeling a little better than the team anticipated. Shumpert initially sounded more upbeat than Blatt about playing in Game 3. “It’s going to take a lot of doctors to tell me not to play in Game 3,” Shumpert said.
Blatt has built Shumpert up as a scoring option since Love’s injury and he has certainly delivered, again playing his best basketball at the most important time. Shumpert has shot just 34 percent on 3-pointers during regular seasons, but has improved to a 41 percent in the postseason. He’s again shooting 40 percent during this playoff run.
Shumpert was a postseason star for the Knicks during his second year in the league, producing the type of all-around numbers that drew comparisons to other young guards such as James Harden and Dwyane Wade at the early stages of their careers. But he injured his knee during that postseason and was back on the court within about nine months.
Rose, conversely, took 17 months to return and has subsequently endured other knee injuries.
Scouts and league executives believe Shumpert has never been quite the same player since the injury. Shumpert, of course, disagrees.
“I’m the same person I was,” Shumpert said. “I think people saw me playing point guard and now when I came back from injury they saw me playing something else. I play more 2 and 3 now so it seems different.”
Shumpert’s presence has provided a huge lift to a Cavs team that was desperately looking for help following the injury to Love and Smith’s suspension. The Bulls’ plan through the first two games has clearly been to leave Shumpert on the perimeter in order to help defensively on guys like Kyrie Irving and LeBron James. To this point, Shumpert has punished the Bulls.
There hasn’t been a defender within 4 feet of him on 14 of his 17 3-point attempts in this series, according to the league’s shot-tracking data. He has made half of those open shots. He noticed in Game 1 how open he was and it caught him off guard. He was more prepared for it in Game 2.
“I noticed it a lot in Game 1 and I was hesitant early on,” he said. “So coming into (Wednesday night) I wanted to make sure I had my feet ready and hands ready to knock it down.”
The return of Smith for Game 3 should provide a boost to the Cavs’ backcourt, but while Smith has traditionally been the superior shooter to Shumpert during the regular season, Shumpert has actually proven to be a better postseason shooter.
As for who will start at guard in Game 3 Friday, Blatt isn’t saying. He never does.
“First thing is that let’s hope [Shumpert is] healthy and he’s able to play significant minutes,” Blatt said. “I always said that (Shumpert) is a guy that’s capable of production at both ends of the court, and when we needed him to do that he obviously stepped in and did a terrific job. It’s not that we need to see him in an expanded role. We know what he’s capable of. Going forward, we see Iman as a real important piece of what we’re doing here.”
File picture of Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert
