Bulls’ one option, Derrick Rose, wasn’t going to cut it alone

Good young superstar that he is, Derrick Rose tried to shoulder the blame.

‘‘It was me,’’ he said after the Bulls had blown a 12-point lead in the final three minutes of their season-ending 83-80 loss to the Miami Heat on Thursday night in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.

No question, Rose had a tough night, scoring 25 points on 9-for-29 shooting, including a final, desperate three-point attempt in which LeBron James, aided by Udonis Haslem, put up a wall between Rose and the basket.

Everybody at the United Center knew Rose would take that shot, which is the way it should be when a player is the league’s most valuable player. It would have been nice, though, to at least have the threat of another threat.

The problem was, it was all on Rose — for better, for worse, for everything in between. Too much on Rose, not enough help.

All those fears about the Bulls’ lack of a second option were realized in their final fourth quarter of the season. Forward Carlos Boozer didn’t play at all. Neither did center Joakim Noah. Even the season-long two-guard tandem of Keith Bogans (32 seconds) and Kyle Korver (2:39) were bit players in the fourth quarter.

Forward Luol Deng, who did a great job of trying to give the Bulls a second option at the start of the game, wasn’t able to step up, either. Saddled with five fouls while guarding James, Deng was 0-for-1 in the final 12 minutes. He started strong, scoring 14 of his 18 points in the first half, but he wasn’t there offensively at the end.

To sum up, two starters — the center (Noah) and the power forward (Boozer) — never left the bench. Deng, the small forward, contributed two free throws. And the shooting guard (Bogans) and sixth man (Korver) didn’t take a shot.

That’s no way to play for a championship.

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It comes down to Rose.

‘‘He’s a great talent, an unbelievable player,’’ James said. ‘‘Chicago’s not only got a great basketball player, but a great kid, too. What he’s done for this city and what he’s done for this franchise in just three years is remarkable.’’

Amen.

‘‘The sky is the limit for that guy,’’ James said. “I mean, wow, as a fan, he’s going to get better and better. Hopefully, we don’t have to continue to see him in the postseason.’’

‘‘We will,’’ Dwyane Wade said.

‘‘Yeah, we will,’’ James said.