CHICAGO — Through three long years of knee surgeries and recoveries, the Chicago Bulls waited for this. And when the moment arrived, here is what Derrick Rose did.
He attacked. He played like an MVP, and if he keeps it up, the Bulls will be a tough team to knock out.
Rose had 23 points and seven assists in his first postseason game in three years, Jimmy Butler scored 25 points, and Chicago opened the playoffs with a 103-91 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.
Rose was at his fearless best, driving hard to the rim early and mixing in three 3-pointers in the second half. He shot 9 of 16 and got serenaded with “MVP! MVP!” chants.
It was quite a night for a superstar point guard making his first playoff appearance since he tore a knee ligament in the 2012 playoff opener against Philadelphia. But if he had any thoughts about the long gap between playoff games, he kept them to himself.
“You can’t think that way when you’re on the floor and you’re in a battle,” Rose said. “When you step on the floor, all those thoughts have to be in the back of your mind. You have to have a clear mind. You’ve got to be very confident and believe in the work that you put in to get back on the floor. That’s all the things I was working on.
“I only had three goals tonight — to have fun, to have no expectations and to compete.”
Chicago hosts Game 2 on Monday.
Khris Middleton scored 18 points and Zaza Pachulia had 15. Michael Carter-Williams finished with nine on 4-of-13 shooting, and the sixth-seeded Bucks came up short after jumping from 15 wins to 41 this season.
“It’s the first playoff game for a lot of people on this team,” guard Jerryd Bayless said. “There were a lot of nerves and whatnot, but we got rid of it today and have a great opportunity on Monday.”
Butler showed the form that made him an All-Star for the first time this season. He set a playoff career high for points and had six assists.
Aaron Brooks provided a spark off the bench with 13 points, and the Bulls opened the series on a winning note after fighting through injuries to finish 50-32.
The Bulls won despite committing 19 turnovers. They outrebounded Milwaukee 52-41, with Pau Gasol grabbing 13 and Joakim Noah and rookie Nikola Mirotic 11 apiece.
WARRIORS 106, PELICANS 99
OAKLAND, Calif. — Stephen Curry scored 34 points with an MVP-worthy performance, and Golden State went up big before holding off New Orleans in their playoff opener.
The Warriors led by 15 after the first quarter, 18 at the half and 25 late in the third. The Pelicans pulled within four in the final minute behind Davis, who scored 20 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, to make the contest seem closer than it really was.
Game 2 of the series is Monday night in Oakland, where the Warriors have won 19 straight.
WIZARDS 93, RAPTORS 86, OT
TORONTO — Paul Pierce scored five of his 20 points in overtime, Nene had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Washington beat Toronto in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
Pierce hit a 3-pointer, his fourth of the game, to begin the extra session, further tormenting a Raptors team he eliminated with Brooklyn in last year’s playoffs, then derided this week by saying, “I don’t feel they have the ‘It’ that makes you worried,” in an interview with ESPN.
Bradley Beal scored 16, while John Wall and Kevin Seraphin each had 10 for the Wizards.
Amir Johnson scored 18 points and DeMar DeRozan had 15 for the Raptors, who have yet to win the opening game of a first-round series in seven postseason appearances.
Toronto hosts Game 2 on Tuesday night.
ROCKETS 118, MAVERICKS 108
HOUSTON — James Harden had 24 points and Corey Brewer scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter to lead Houston past Dallas in Game 1 of the Western Conference series.
Brewer made three 3-pointers in about 3 minutes in the fourth to keep the Mavericks at bay. He added another three points when he made a layup and a free throw to give Houston a 109-95 lead with 3 minutes left.
Houston won the opener in the best-of-seven series after losing both home games last season in a first-round loss to Portland. Game 2 is Tuesday night in Houston.
By wire sources