Best game ever: Derrick Rose recalls his favorite performance

March 18, 2006: Chicago Simeon 31, Peoria Richwoods 29

Derrick Rose: nine points, four rebounds, two assists

The former most valuable player has been playing well off the Minnesota Timberwolves’ bench this season. Instead of going with the time he scored more than 40 points in the playoffs or the day he destroyed Goran Dragic with one of the best in-game dunks in the last decade, Rose searched his memory.

“Best game I’ve ever played? That’s a hard one, bro. I would have to say my first championship game, the [Illinois] state championship. It was a low-scoring game. It was like 34-32 (31-29 actually). It was just a grimy game. They played zone all game. I was a junior at the time and everybody that was an upperclassman, that were seniors, we wanted to win it for them because we knew we’d have a better chance to win it the next year. We wanted them to go out with a bang. And, I hit the shot. A game-winner. Buzzer-beater. That was a big moment.”

dan.woike@latimes.com

Twitter: @DanWoikeSports