The day our Delly was a thorn between a Rose

• Matthew Dellavedova won an NBA Championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016
• Earned an Olympic bronze medal with the Australian Boomers at Tokyo 2020
• Played for three NBA teams over nine seasons, known for his tenacious defence

As the Chicago Bulls celebrate one of the franchise's greatest players with Derrick Rose's iconic No.1 jersey set to hang from the rafters, let's wind back to the day our Matthew Dellavedova out-duelled the former NBA MVP on one of the league's biggest stages.

The date was May 14, 2015 at the United Center - the very arena Rose will have his jersey raised alongside the likes of the greatest of all-time in Michael Jordan - and it was Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals between fierce rivals the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago.

It had been a back and forth series featuring several game-winners, one banked three-pointer from Rose in Game 3 to hand the Bulls a 2-1 series lead, only to be followed up by a corner triple from LeBron James in Game 4 to save the Cavaliers from going down 3-1.

Game 5 belonged to LeBron, who well and truly put his stamp on the series with 38 points and 12 rebounds in Cleveland, to put his team within one win of progressing to the Eastern Conference finals in his first season back with the Cavaliers as the teams headed back to the United Center with the series on the line.

Early on in Game 6, it wasn't going the Cavaliers' way.

The Bulls were firing with a raucous home crowd behind them but more importantly, Cleveland would have to deal with superstar point guard Kyrie Irving only playing a limited role due to injury.

Enter the legend of Matthew Dellavedova.

Delly had already been part of the rotation under then-coach David Blatt but would be required more than ever if the Cavaliers were going to clinch the series on the road.

While the man from Maryborough made some big players in the first half, a trademark alley-oop pass to Tristan Thompson for an and-one while being guarded by Rose and knocking down a corner three, it was the second half where Dellavedova proved himself on the playoff stage.

He started his second-half run with a floater, demonstrating his expertise as a handler in the pick and roll with the athleticism of Rose providing no obstacle, before he and LeBron James tore the heart out of Bulls fans as a pick and roll duo.

But it wasn't the way you think. Dellavedova was used as a screener for the ball-handling James and despite being one of the toughest defensive teams in the NBA under Tom Thibodeau, the Bulls had no answers on how to stop it.

Two defenders would regularly go to James, and fair enough too, almost daring the Cavaliers to try and beat them through Dellavedova.

And he did.

Rose and Bulls back-up point guard Aaron Brooks, who would go on to play in the NBL for the Illawarra Hawks years later, appeared to be in defensive hell trying to figure out an answer for the action which helped the Cavaliers run away with the game.

Along the way, Dellavedova hit a drive and spin move on Brooks, which had the speedster desperate to find his feet to avoid the embarrassment of an ankle breaker, as well as a transition triple after a dish from Iman Shumpert and topped it off with another floater to seal one of the best performances by an Aussie in NBA playoff history.

His performance had his teammates, including Irving, jumping onto the court from the bench in celebration.

Dellavedova would finish with 19 points in 34 minutes, going 3-from-6 from beyond the arc and 7-from-11 from the field - in comparison to just 14 points in 35 minutes from Rose.

The former St Mary's Gaels star and Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder, who went undrafted, was a +22 for the Cavaliers - the second highest on the team, only behind JR Smith, who was a +24 as the Cavaliers sealed the series with a dominant 94-73 road win.

His breakout game had iconic commentators such as Mike Breen and NBA legend Mark Jackson singing his praises.

"What a night for the back-up point guard," Breen said.

"How good has he been... Matthew has been outstanding," Jackson commented.

While the Cavs wouldn't win the title that year, Dellavedova became a legend with his playoff efforts, including clawing tooth and nail to guard Stephen Curry in the NBA FIinals. In 2016, Cleveland and Delly would get their reward, beating the Golden State Warriors for the championship.

So, while Rose deserves his day in the sun and his jersey retired among the Bulls greats at the United Center, let's not forget the game he couldn't solve the puzzle that was Matthew Dellavedova.