by Chicago, IL – Following a bad loss to the Miami Heat on Friday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers (38-29) drop back-to-back games, losing to the Chicago Bulls (41-26) 101-91. Cleveland fought until the very end, but it was Chicago’s defense that ultimately made it near impossible for the Cavaliers to get back into the game.
Injuries were a big part of this game for both teams, with both teams missing all-star caliber players. For the Bulls, star shooting guard Zach LaVine missed the contest due to left knee discomfort. This put a lot more on the shoulders of MVP candidate DeMar DeRozan, who did not disappoint with the heavier workload. However, Chicago was able to welcome back defensive stud Alex Caruso, who had been sidelined with a wrist injury since late January.
For Cleveland, they were missing four of their seven best players on the offensive side of the ball. Collin Sexton continues to be out rehabbing his torn meniscus. First time all-star Jarrett Allen has now missed three contests since the Raptors game where he injured his quad and fractured his finger. Caris LeVert continues to be sidelined with a foot fracture that has led him to miss nine straight games. Last but not least, Lauri Markkanen, who was questionable up until a half hour before the game, ended up missing the contest due to right ankle soreness.
First Half
The first quarter was filled with lazy passes and sloppy play from both teams, as they combined for 14 first quarter turnovers. Some of these turnovers however were created by the great perimeter defenders that were featured in the game. For Chicago, Caruso and rookie Ayo Dosunmu helped to force Cavs’ all-star Darius Garland into tough shots early and often, forcing Garland into an 0-5 first quarter, also getting blocked three times.
With Garland being the focal point of Chicago’s defense, rookie of the year candidate Evan Mobley took over during the first quarter for Cleveland. He scored 11 of his 17 points in the first frame, on 5-6 shooting during the quarter. For Chicago, DeRozan, who had a few bad early turnovers, scored eight points in the final three minutes of the quarter to give the Bulls an early 24-22 lead at the end of the first.
Chicago picked up right where they left off to start the second, with another DeMar DeRozan bucket. He was lights out all night for Chicago, leading to 26 points, with four rebounds and 6 assists. But even when he wasn’t scoring, he was impacting the game on the offensive side of the ball. His constant driving to the lane made Cleveland help on the drive, leading to open shooters almost every time for the Bulls. This is an area where missing Jarrett Allen for Cleveland is going to hurt, since normally he would be the last line of defense for the Cavaliers.
The Bulls got out to a 12-point lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the second quarter. Then, the Cavaliers went on a 7-0 run to bring the game within five as the time went under five minutes to go. As soon as DeRozan checked back in for the Bulls, their offense began to pick up again, and he ended to quarter with an astoundingly difficult left elbow shot as time expired in the first half. Chicago held a 53-42 lead going into halftime.
Second Half
After a brutal first half for Garland, he started to find his footing for the Cavaliers in the third quarter. After Chicago expanded their lead to 13 following a few buckets by center Nikola Vucevic, Garland went onto score the next eight Cavalier points, doing everything he could to keep the Bulls’ lead at 10, with Chicago’s offense going bucket for bucket with the first time all-star.
Despite a ton of offense from their star player, the Cavaliers couldn’t seem to stay with Chicago due to the teams’ poor shooting night. Cleveland shot an abysmal 5-24, or 21%, from the three-point line, and even when they were wide open, the shots just weren’t falling for the Cavs. Another thing was that Chicago’s defense continued to force too many Cavs’ turnovers. Dosunmu and Caruso especially either stole or tipped plenty of passes from the visiting team, which resulted in quite a few easy buckets in transition throughout the game. By the end of the third, Chicago held a 77-66 lead over Cleveland heading into the final frame.
The Bulls scored the first seven points of the fourth, bringing their lead to 18, their largest of the game. Garland then scored five straight for the Cavs and assisted on the next bucket, cutting the Bulls’ lead back to 11. After a back and forth fourth quarter though, Cleveland was never able to truly cut into Chicago’s big lead until it was too late, bringing themselves within single digits with under a minute left in the game. Chicago would go on to give the Cavaliers their third straight loss with a 101-91 victory over Cleveland.
What’s Next
Cleveland will need to try to get healthy as quickly as possible going forward if they want to avoid the play-in tournament. Their schedule doesn’t get any easier, as their next game is Monday against the Clippers, which does kick off a five-game home stand. However, the teams they play during that stretch include the Clippers, 76ers, Nuggets, Pistons and Lakers. None of those games are going to be easy, even the Pistons game, since Cleveland has been decimated by injuries and the Pistons have been playing great basketball of late.
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Photo Credits: NBC Sports
