Quickhit: Bulls 99, Cavs 96

This game brought the pain.  It was fantastic drama and became a war of attrition.  It made sense that the game was won on a buzzer-beating, banked-in 3 by Derrick Rose (that was very well defended by Tristan Thompson).

EG will have a full recap shortly.  The refs set the tone early by swallowing their whistles and allowing the rule of verticality to thrive.  While LeBron stuffed the stat sheet and made a number of outstanding passes, his half-court execution has been severely lacking.  With no confidence in his jumper (until late in the 4th quarter when he buried two) he sought to back down Jimmy Butler in the post or drive right down Michigan Ave to make something happen.  It mostly lead to turnovers, missed shots, and the occasional kick-out.

Kyrie Irving rolled his ankle in the 1st quarter and looked like a shell of himself the rest of the night. He canned three triples but was unable to convert any of his usual wizardly forays to the rim.

The Cavs survived with some really gritty play from their role players.  Delly played exceptionally well and even had a sequence where he completely punked the Bulls and stole the momentum of the game (momentarily).  Tristan Thompson had the most TT-esque game: just a beast on the boards all night long.  He also had some clutch blocks.  J.R. Smith came alive right when the Cavs seemed most gassed in the early minutes of the 4th quarter.  He stroked four 3s including a game-saving bomb in the final moments.  It should have sent the game to overtime but Derrick Rose banked-in a shot that will be remembered for a very long time.

This series could get chippy.  Noah had some profane and disrespectful words for LeBron after appearing on a filthy poster.  Butler and Aaron Brooks both gave Delly a hard shove – the kind teams always give Varejao when they tire of his pesky play.  Cardale Jones weighed in on the Noah spittle.

Neither team shot 40% from the field.  The Cavs have been underwhelming offensively for some time now.  The Cavs have a tough road ahead.  Their lack of depth didn’t really kill them tonight (Kyrie and LeBron did not play well enough to win) but it’s hard to envision the bench, particularly Delly, playing this well again on the road.  The Cavs have a mere one day to get their bodies ready.  And their minds might be a little, shall we say, “compromised” after watching that Derrick Rose 3 bank-in.  Kyrie Irving was Boobie Gibson-light tonight.  He’ll need to heal up for the Cavs to steal game 4.  LeBron looks completely flummoxed by Jimmy Butler and the Bulls help defense.  He may want to get comfy stroking 17 footers because he’s unable to impose his will in the post or in iso pick and rolls.  His handle is so loose right now.  The Bulls have their own issues.  Pau Gasol is injured and did not return to the game and Joakim Noah is completely useless offensively.  He finished 1-8 from the field and they were all make-able shots.

Tough game to lose.