Recap: Bulls 99, Cavs 92 (Or, The Bulls Can’t Get Any Better)

The Bulls offense showed up last night, and the Cavs defense refused to make any changes to counter it. The Bulls opened the evening on a 10-2 run, and led by 16 and 15 points at different points during the game. Pau Gasol, Jimmy Butler, and Derrick Rose combined for 66 points, and the whole Chicago team shot 55% from 3-point land. The Cavs managed to come back from both deficits, while shooting 27% from the 3-line. The Cavs lost, but the Bulls aren’t going to keep playing offense like they did, and the Cavs defense and offense should improve next game.

First Quarter

The Cavs defense in the opening quarter oscillated between incompetent and passable. During the incompetent stretches, the Bulls made wide open shots. During the passable stretches, different Bulls made tough shots. Chicago made five of seven 3-balls during the quarter.

I joked that Mike Dunleavy and Mike Miller would have the battle of Mikes this game. Dunleavy somehow heard that thought and destroyed Miller to show they aren’t even on the same level. Dunleavy started the game draining an open long ball. He made both of his other attempts during the quarter; he even grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back for two, which made me yell as if my own mother was being murdered. This Real Deal Mike scored 13 points in ten minutes of action. Derrick Rose added eight points hitting two open 3s and making a layup.

The Cavs struggled offensively. On the night’s first possession, Iman Shumpert made a rough contested jumper late in the shot clock. Then the Cavs didn’t score for nearly five minutes. The Bulls played decent defense, and the Cavs missed shots. Highlights of the Cavs offense included: Iman Shumpert taking seven shots and making just one 3-pointer after hitting his first shot of the night, LeBron not making a basket until there were four minutes left in the quarter, and Kyrie making a circus shot where he put the shot up from under the rim using dirty spin to get it to drop in.

Mozgov stole my heart during this disappointing quarter when he rotated over and slowed Joakim Noah’s roll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALP2rlfTv3c

Tristan Thompson showed effort, causing a jump ball the very first play after he checked in. The last Cavs possession of the quarter involved three offensive rebounds; they still couldn’t score. That last sequence sums up the first twelve minutes perfectly. Cavs down, 27-15.

Second Quarter

Matthew Dellavedova continued the trend of pasty guys striking first by scoring the first basket of the second quarter. Kirk Hinrich furthered that trend, scoring the next six points. After Kirk’s burst, LeBron had had enough. He drove to the basket two consecutive times, after which Aaron Brooks back cut on him for an easy basket. Iman took offense to that, and launched the first comeback attempt. After catching the ball in the corner, Shump pump faked and ran to the hoop, picking up every available hammer along the way to throw down once he reached the rim.

Kyrie then scored ten straight points including an And-1 jumper, an off the bounce 3-ball, and a coast-to-coast turbo button layup after a TT block. The Bulls scored just two during that run; the Cavs got within six, 39-33.

Kyrie proceeded to score four more points in the quarter including a very nasty layup. Five Bulls were paying attention to Irving like he was Kate Upton walking the halls of a high school; they still couldn’t hinder his ball handling. Irving went Neo in the Matrix for a possession.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr-x5Qdyg3E

Offensively, the Bulls continued their steady diet of Derrick Rose difficult jumpers. He scored eight points.

LeBron ended the quarter backing down Jimmy Butler 18 feet away from the hoop. Eventually, the King ended up in the paint and scored. Cavs went into the half down, 49-44.

Third Quarter

The Cavs looked like a full blown NBA team to start the quarter. On the first play, LeBron posted up and found Iman Shumpert for a 3-pointer when the Bulls doubled him. The Cavs even played better defense. Instead of switching haphazardly, they dropped back against the pick and roll to prevent penetration. During that time, Irving and James used Mozgov screens to feed the hungry Russian for easy buckets.

An Irving layup tied the game at 53 points, but then everything came apart. The Bulls figured out that the Cavs were cheating on defense by going under screens and zoning up the big man to stop layups. The mid-range area was left wide open, so the Bulls set up camp there. Well, Pau Gasol set up camp there. He scored ten of his 13 points in the quarter on open jumpers.

Pau Gasol’s shot chart for the third quarter.

Gasol’s jumpers helped fuel a 15-0 Bulls run during the middle of the quarter. The Cavs killed themselves during this section of fun by taking long jumpers, and running pick and rolls where Mozgov got stuffed at the rim twice.

The Wine and Gold finished the quarter on an 11-7 run. LeBron got to the line late, and made one of two free throws. His second miss was rebounded by the Cavs, and Matty D scored a trey off of the action. Iman followed up with another 3-ball. The Cavs finished the quarter behind, 80-71.

Fourth Quarter

Kyrie bent the Matrix like Neo again to start the fourth. He drove into the paint and got fouled. He kicked to Shumpert for a 3-pointer. He even drained an And-1 layup to bring the Cavaliers within three. Kyrie capped his seven point flurry by hitting LeBron on a roll to the rim for two. With roughly six minutes left, James jumped in the air and tossed a wild pass to Thompson in the paint. TT missed the layup, but the King put it back to trail the Bulls by just two, 86-84.

That play would be James’ last reasonable one of the game. Down the stretch he made poor decisions. Down six with 4:15 left, LeBron walked the ball up the court and tossed up a long ball. It bricked. The King then turned the ball over two more times. With 1:32 left, Shumpert scored a layup off a King drive and dump to bring the Cavs within four. James missed the next layup, and Jimmy Butler followed up with an impossible banked jumper over TT. With the Bulls up six, the Cavs were unable to hit any 3s to catch up. They scored just six points during the final five minutes, so the Bulls won it, 99-92.

Gripes

1. The Cavs started out the game on the wrong foot. The Bulls opened on a 10-2 run. This happened because the Cavs defense rotated poorly and was one step behind the ball at all times. It was also a result of the Bulls just hitting impossible shots. The Bulls shot 52.5% from the field and made 6-9 3s in the first half. The Cavs shot 39% in the first half and made just three 3-pointers.

CHI D did a nice job limiting Cavs spread pick/roll, though thought CLE went away from it too much + showed no continuity into 2nd options

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) May 5, 2015

2. LeBron James needs to defer when he doesn’t have it. In the fourth quarter, Kyrie scored or assisted on the first twelve points. He was feeling it. The LeBron layup that missed with 51 seconds left in the game was Kyrie’s to take. LeBron also had issues staying in front of anyone this game because he was in “chill mode.” If you stand up straight on defense instead of crouching, it’s safe to say you aren’t trying your hardest.

“It’s just not fair that some people think I shouldn’t dribble so much”

3. Early in the season, I complained that the Cavs trapping defense didn’t work because no one had the timing down. The backline rotations always seemed too late; the guy fighting over the screen chased the ball handler as the trapper just kept stepping back without stopping the ball. That happened again tonight. Ball handlers pushed the Cavs back until they had an easy shot.

4. The Cavs tried to switch at times on defense. This is a great idea until Mike Miller ends up on Joakim Noah. Several mismatches occurred because of switches. Furthermore, the Cavs often preempted switches too early, so the Bulls figured out how to counter them. Look at this play. During the possession, Jimmy Butler waits for a screen from Joakim Noah on his left side around the 3-point arc. Noah sets the screen, and LeBron heads to the left side to pick up Butler. Butler’s defender, Shumpert, shades over too to cover Noah. Butler sees this, and he rejects the screen. His path to the basket is uninhibited.

5. When the Cavs started dropping back on pick and rolls to contain the ball handler, the Bulls exploited the mid-range shot. Look at Pau Gasol’s shot chart above during the third quarter. David Blatt should have realized this was happening and made the appropriate changes.

6. Mike Miller is ready to be put down. Cleveland was -20 in his 16 minutes. He can’t be played anymore.

7. The Cavs shot 7-26 from deep.

Hypes

1. This was one game. It can’t get any worse, and the Cavs only lost by six points. Everything worked for the Bulls offensively. Derrick Rose had 25 points on 11-26 shooting. Mike Dunleavy had 14 points and made 3-4 3s. Pau Gasol shot 10-16 for 21 points, including a 13 point third quarter. What are the odds that these three guys play so good again in the same game?

2. Iman Shumpert played amazing tonight. Defensively he stayed in front of whoever he was covering. He showed no fear when shooting the ball. He made 4-10 3s and 8-17 shots from the field for 22 points. He was so JR Smith-like, it was scary.

3. Matthew Dellavedova showed up and initiated positive stuff each time he saw the floor. Matty made the first basket of the second quarter, which spurred LeBron’s two early drives to the basket. In the third quarter, he hit a big triple near the end of action that helped the Cavs end on an 11-7 run. The Cavs were +8 with Delly on the floor.

4. Tristan only had four points and eight rebounds, but his defensive impact was immeasurable. At the end of the game, he kept getting switched onto guards, and he did a wonderful job of preventing them from driving to the hoop. Chris Webber commented that Tristan was overmatched, but I don’t know what he was seeing. Tristan forced a tough jumper each time he had to match up against D. Rose or Butler.

5. LeBron played terribly tonight, yet he had 19 points and 15 rebounds to go with nine assists. His 19 points did take 22 shot attempts though. LeBron also had six turnovers. He also played “give up” defense on multiple occasions. He should have deferred to Kyrie late, who was having a much better night.

6. The Cavs recovered from a 16 point deficit in the second quarter and 15 point deficit in the third quarter.

7. Kyrie had a wonderful night. He shot 10-23 for 30 points and made all nine of his free throws. Furthermore, Kyrie led a major run in both the second and fourth quarters to make sure this game remained respectable.

8. The Cavs look for a revenge win on Wednesday.