by Micah Hart



Almost had two Horry Scale entries tonight, but sadly Jordan Farmar‘s game-winner for the Nets left a measly 0.4 seconds left on the clock for the Clippers to salvage a win. A great shot no doubt (though where was the Clippers’ D on that play?), but twasn’t a buzzer-beater, so it fails to qualify. Fortunately, we still have Derrick Rose to take care of us.

For those that are new around these parts, the Horry scale examines a game-winning buzzer-beater (GWBB) in the categories of difficulty, game situation (was the team tied or behind at the time), importance (playoff game or garden-variety Clippers-Nets game), and celebration, and give it an overall grade on a scale of 1-5 Robert Horrys.

Rose is one of the ultimate closers in the NBA, so it’s a bit of a surprise to me this is his first appearance on the Horry Scale. How did the league’s reigning MVP stack up? Let’s find out:

Difficulty

Not terribly difficult for Rose, who created some space for himself against Brandon Jennings before knocking down the step-back jumper from the top of the key to win the game. However, I am going to complain just a little here. I won’t argue with the outcome, but with as much time as Rose had to work with in a tie game, I want him to get to the basket there. I’ll give him a pass, though, because that’s typically what he does in game-winning situations. But a lesson to the kids — never settle for the J.

Game Situation

Potential trade bait Ersan Ilyasova scored on an offensive rebound to tie the game at 104-104 with 24 seconds left to play, which gave the Bulls all the time in the world to set up a play for the win. Chicago cleared it out for Rose, who went mano-a-mano with Jennings for the final shot.

Importance

The Bulls fell to the Heat in last season’s Eastern Conference finals, and the two teams appear on a crash course to go at it again this May. With the way Miami has improved, home-court advantage could certainly play a big role in that series, and as such, every win for Chicago will matter from here until the end of the regular season. The Bulls remain two games ahead of the Heat with this win.

Celebration

Watch the clip again, and listen for the crowd’s reaction (go ahead, I’ll wait). What city was this game played in again? I had to look a few times to remind myself it was played in Milwaukee because judging by the crowd’s reaction, you might have thought it was the Windy City. Look how much red is in that crowd! I realize Chicago is a short distance from Milwaukee, but that’s embarrassing. Bonus points for the skyward finger-point celebration from Brian Scalabrine.

Grade

1.5 Horrys. A tie game, plenty of time to work with, and a more-difficult-shot-than-necessary from Rose makes this one fairly standard. But I’m giving an extra half-Horry in honor of the Bulls fans for turning the place into United Center North.

What do you think?

Seen something that belongs on All Ball? Let us know via email or Twitter.