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By The Associated Press May 09. 2015 12:01AM Rose's buzzer-beater sinks Cavs Chicago guard Derrick Rose (1) drives to the basket past Cleveland forward LeBron James during the second half of Game 3 in Chicago on Friday. AP PHOTO CHICAGO — Derrick Rose wanted to make one thing clear about his winning 3-pointer. He did not call glass. Rose banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer and scored 30 points Friday night to give the Chicago Bulls a 99-96 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers and a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. "I'm just thankful and grateful that my teammates gave me the ball," he said. "They believed in me down the stretch. They kept getting me the ball, kept encouraging me to play the way that I usually play. And no, I did not call glass." Cleveland had just tied it on a 3-pointer by J.R. Smith with 10.8 seconds left when Rose came through with the winner off a sideline inbounds play. The play called for him to get the ball in the corner, but he could not find an opening there. Instead, he took the inbounds from Mike Dunleavy Jr. on the wing and dribbled to his right, past the top of the key. Then, as time expired, he banked in a 26-footer over Tristan Thompson. That drew a mob from his teammates and a deafening roar from the crowd for a hometown star limited in recent years by injuries to both knees. Rose has played well at times in these playoffs - the first for him since 2012. But he also committed a late turnover and got beaten on a last-second layup in a loss to Milwaukee in Game 4 of the first round. This, by far, was his biggest shot of the postseason. "It was huge," said Jimmy Butler, who scored 20 for Chicago. "We needed that. That's what he does." LeBron James, who scored 27 for Cleveland despite shooting 8 of 25, said there was nothing Thompson could do about that shot. "You follow the game plan, they make a shot - you live with it," he said. "It's when you make mistakes during the game plan, those would be the ones that are hard to live with. I know it's easy for me to say that. The shot was not made on me. The guy took a tough shot. Tip your hat to him." James passed Tony Parker, Steve Nash and Larry Bird for fourth on the career playoff assists list. He had 14 in the game, giving him 1,073. Chicago never won more than one game in three previous playoff series against teams led by James. But the Bulls have a chance to take a commanding lead with Game 4 at home on Sunday. Smith, back from a two-game suspension, scored 14 points. Kyrie Irving, playing with a sore foot that started bothering him in the first round against Boston, had just 11 points and no assists. He shot 3 of 13 and the only baskets he made were on 3-pointers. Rose and Butler combined to score 23 of Chicago's 25 points in the fourth quarter. Dunleavy finished the game with 16 points, and Nikola Mirotic scored 12 after playing sparingly the first two games. The Bulls also outrebounded Cleveland 54-39, outscored them 44-28 in the paint and had 18 second-chance points compared to seven for the Cavaliers. One concern for Chicago was Pau Gasol straining his left hamstring. The Bulls announced late in the game that he would not return. Gasol said the problem cropped up in Game 2. It started tightening up early in this one, and he will undergo some tests today. CLIPPERS 124, ROCKETS 99: At Los Angeles, Austin Rivers scored a career playoff-high 25 points, sparking a decisive run to end the third quarter, and Los Angeles beat Houston for a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals. Chris Paul returned from a hamstring injury to bolster the Clippers with 12 points and seven assists after he missed the first two games of the series. J.J. Redick had a career playoff-best 31 points, Blake Griffin added 22 points and 14 rebounds, and DeAndre Jordan had 15 rebounds. But it was the coach's son who came off the bench and helped the Clippers use a 20-3 run to finally get the separation they lacked in the first half. Rivers scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the dominating offensive outburst that extended the Clippers' lead to 99-76 going into the fourth. James Harden had 25 points and 11 assists, and Dwight Howard added 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets. http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20150509/sports/150509595 © 2016 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->