Cavaliers skid continues with 136-125 loss to Bulls

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - Wednesday night the Cleveland Cavaliers (15-14, 9-8 home) traveled to Chicago (12-15, 5-9 road) and fell to the Bulls 127-111. Another unimpressive effort by one of the most talented teams in the NBA who has been fighting through injuries, Evan Mobley will miss three more weeks.

Friday night the Cavs hosted the Bulls at Rocket Arena for a rematch. Not only were the Cavs without Mobley and the other injured pieces they were without, but Donovan Mitchell did not suit up (illness) as well as Craig Porter, Jr. (illness) did not suit up Friday night. Once again, the Cavs looked listless and did not compete, falling to the Bulls 136-125.

Tyrese Proctor got the start in place of Mitchell and took advantage right away as he drained a three just 38 seconds into the game to give the Cavs an early 3-0 lead. Then with 9:58 left in the quarter he struck again hitting second three, giving the Cavs an 8-0 lead. Bulls coach Billy Donovan took an immediate timeout. The timeout might not have worked because the Bulls failed to score on their next possession and then Darius Garland hit a three giving Cleveland an 11-0 lead with 9:38 left on the clock. With 8:38 left on the clock, Jaylon Tyson was called for a foul on Matas Buzelis, replay showed that Tyson never touched him, but no harm was done as Buzelis missed both free throws. With 7:17 left in the quarter the Bulls pulled to within two points at 13-11 when former Cav Isaac Okoro drained a three. It was a very odd moment before the game when the Bulls starters were announced and Okoro received large ovation from the very same fan base that criticized him the entire time he was a Cavalier. The Bulls then tied the game 13-13 with 6:45 left and Kenny Atkinson called a timeout. The Bulls were on a 13-2 run. The Bulls took their first lead of the game came at the 5:31 mark when Tre Jones drained a three from in front of the Cavs bench. The Cavs offense picked up the pace and then with 2:16 left in the opening quarter Proctor found Thomas Bryant under the basket to give the Cavs a 26-19 lead. The Bulls responded with the next six points to cut the Cavs lead to one point. With :50.1 left in the quarter Proctor was belted across the face by Zach Collins, he hit one of two free throws to give the Cavs a 29-27 lead. After the Bulls tied the game at 29, Ball hit a three with :29.1 left to give the Cavs a 32-29 lead and then Collins tied the game at 32-32 when the quarter ended. Garland led all scorers after one quarter with 11 points. Buzelis and Jones led the Bulls with eight points apiece. The battle of the boards was even in the first as each team had 12. The Cavs outshot the Bulls from the field 48% (11 of 23) to 46% (11 of 24).

The Bulls took the lead 20 seconds into the second quarter when Coby White hit a three to give the Bulls a 35-34 advantage. With 9:40 left in the Bulls lead was 39-36 when Nikola Vucevic scored in the paint. With 8:31 left the Bulls lead was up to five points after White hit two free throws. The Cavs cut the Bulls lead to 43-42 with 7:38 left when Garland found Tomlin in the paint and he slammed it home. The Bulls extended their lead back to four when Luke Travers fouled Buzelis and then Ball was accessed a technical while sitting on the bench. After a Travers steal Jarrett Allen found Travers in the paint with 5:01 left and the big man from Australia tied the game 48-48. The Bulls came right back and took a 54-50 lead with 4:11 left. Atkinson took another timeout. The Cavs continued to play lousy defense and with 2:27 left in the first half the Bulls lead grew to double digits. From the 9:38 mark of the first quarter the Bulls had outscored the Cavs 60-39. The sellout crowd at Rocket Arena was growing restless. At the buzzer, the Bulls extended their lead to 66-55 and the Cavs headed toward the locker room as a load chorus of boos reigned down from the very unhappy sellout crowd. The Cavs finished the first half shooting just 43% (22 of 51) while the Cavs porous defense allowed the Bulls to shoot 49% (24 of 49) from the field. The Cavs actually outrebounded the Bulls in the first half 25-24. The Cavs shot a miserable 29% (6 of 21) in the first half from behind the three-point line while the Bulls with little resistance from the Cavs defense shot 46% (12 of 26).

As the third quarter wore on and the Bulls’ lead grew to 13 points with just under eight minutes left on the clock the boos got louder as the hometown crowd was very unhappy with their Cavs. The Cavs are basically a rinse and repeat team at this point, score and then give points up at the other end. The Cavs did cut the Bulls lead to 85-81 with 5:01 left in the third when Garland hit a three. Then Garland stole the ball, swished a three and the Bulls’ lead had shrunk to 85-84 with 4:51 remaining in the third quarter. Bulls coach Billy Donovan elected to try and kills the Cavs momentum with a timeout. Then with 4:27 left in the quarter Garland found Tomlin in the corner, he swished a three and the Cavs led 87-85. In a four-minute period of time the Cavs outscored the Bulls 27-11. With 2:41 left in the third the Bulls regained the lead 91-89 when Vucevic hit a jumper and then extended their lead to 93-89 when the Cavs matador defense allowed Kevin Heurter to score in the paint. The Cavs cut the Bulls lead to 96-94 when Proctor hit his third three of the game with 1:29 left. The Cavs show no signs of playing good defense at all as the Bulls led 101-99 at the end of the third quarter. The Cavs have given up 90 points or more through three quarters in eight of their last ten games.

With 10:23 left in the final quarter the Bulls lead was at 108-101 as Ayo Dosunmu toyed with the Cavs defense and hit a three. With 7:48 left in the game the Cavs once again came all the way back to tie the game 110-110, but less than 20 second later the Bulls took the lead back and then extended it to 115-110 when Huerter completely and totally left wide open drained a three with 6:45 left in regulation. The Cavs tied the game at 115-115 with 6:00 left when Garland hit his 5th three and 30th points of the game. The Bulls took a timeout. The Bulls quickly regained the lead after the timeout and then extended it to four points with 5:13 left when Collins scored in the paint untouched. The Cavs kept the game within five points. Then with 2:14 left on the clock the Bulls took a 126-120 lead when Buzelis hit two free throws after being fouled by Allen. The Cavs then turned the ball over and the Bulls took advantage by taking a 128-120 lead with 1:59 left on the clock. That was all she wrote as the Cavs fell again to a team with less talent this time 136-125.

Garland, who was visibly frustrated near the end of the game, led everyone in scoring 35 points in the loss. Buzelis and Vucevic led the Bulls with 24 points apiece. Allen notched a double double with 14 points and 12 boards. The Cavs were once again outrebounded, this time 48-46 and 12-9 in the final quarter. The Bulls shot 52% (53 of 102) from the field while the Cavs shot 48% (48 of 101).

The Cavs will be off until Monday when they host the Charlotte Hornets (9-18, 3-10 road, 1-0 in Cleveland) and will be looking for a little revenge and to get on track as the Hornets completely embarrassed the Cavs at Rocket Arena on 119-111 in overtime where the Cavs were held scoreless in the extra session. Game time is 7 pm at Rocket Arena.