The Cleveland Cavaliers did what they were supposed to do for three quarters. They dominated a shorthanded and tanking Chicago Bulls team by getting out to a 29-point lead midway through the third quarter. But their lack of focus got the best of them once again.
The Cavaliers allowed the Bulls to make this a one-point game late in the fourth quarter, before finally putting things away and securing the 115-113 victory.
The Bulls opened the evening with a quick 11-2 run to open the game — fueled by a made
three and four assists from Josh Giddey. This led Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson to take a quick timeout three minutes into the action because of the poor defensive effort.
The Cavaliers came out of that timeout on a 24-6 run, which included a seven-point possession from James Harden.
Harden’s scoring carried the Cavs through the first quarter. He poured in 16 points on 4-9 shooting with three assists in the opening frame to give Cleveland a 10-point advantage after one.
The Cavaliers proceeded to seemingly put the game away in the second quarter.
They went on a 19-0 run from the end of the first to the beginning of the second that stretched their lead to 23.
The Bulls’ inability to take care of the ball helped facilitate this run. They coughed it up eight times in the second quarter alone, leading to 11 points off turnovers.
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The Bulls closed the second quarter on a run to make it just a 16-point deficit at the break. The Cavs responded quickly in the third quarter, pushing their lead to 29.
The game should’ve been over at this point, but it wasn’t.
The Cavs went into the fourth quarter holding onto a 20-point lead. Things went haywire from there.
Cleveland couldn’t make stops and couldn’t get anything going offensively. This allowed the Bulls to make it a one-point game with three and a half minutes to play.
The Cavs’ offense responded from there. Sam Merrill hit a three on the next possession to make it a four-point game. The two teams traded baskets from there until Harden iced the game with a midrange jumper with 33 seconds left to seemingly secure the victory, but it wasn’t that easy.
The Cavs had a chance to end the game at the line, but Harden missed one of two free throws, then Evan Mobley missed both of his. Fortunately for Cleveland, Dennis Schroder finally hit two free-throws which allowed the Cavs to actually put the game away.
For the second game in a row, Harden looked his vintage self. He was hitting step-back threes, getting whatever he wanted off-the-dribble, and setting up his teammates for easy baskets. This led to him registering 36 points on 10-23 shooting, which included going 7-13 from beyond the arc. Harden also added nine assists, seven rebounds, and two steals.
At the same time, this wasn’t a perfect game from Harden. He turned it over far too much as he accumulated five giveaways while also committing five fouls.
Evan Mobley put together another impressive game. The two-man actions between him and Harden continued to improve, as the Cavs were once again able to run good offense out of those pick-and-rolls. This led to him putting up 26 points on 12-19 shooting with 14 rebounds. However, the free-throw shooting remains a serious issue as he went 2-6 from the line again. This becomes more worrisome the further he advances in this slump.
Jaylon Tyson put up 18 points on 8-14 shooting with 11 rebounds. It was a good game, but several defensive lapses kept him from being in the closing lineup.
Max Strus was in the closing lineup, even though he failed to register a point. He went 0-5 from three and 0-6 from the field overall. Merrill provided 13 points on 3-8 shooting. Keon Ellis finished with eight points, three steals, a block, and four turnovers.
The Bulls were led by 20 points from Tre Jones. Giddey supplied nine points and 19 assists in the loss.
The Cavs were without two starters in Donovan Mitchell (eye contusion) and Jarrett Allen (knee). We don’t know the severity of Mitchell’s injury at this time, but the Cavs have already ruled Allen out of Saturday’s game.
It’s difficult to feel good about this performance. It seemed like the Cavs had learned their lesson from the previous two games against bad opponents. They approached the game with the seriousness they needed to and controlled the game on both ends of the floor. Or at least, they did for three quarters.
The fourth quarter showed everything that has made this team frustrating over the past few weeks. The attention to detail wasn’t there, as neither the offensive nor the defensive execution was crisp. They weren’t careful with the ball and would’ve lost this game if they were playing against a competent opponent.
Process is more important than results at this point in the season. While there were plenty of good things to take from the first three quarters, any positives are outweighed by how poorly things ended.
The Cavaliers will finish up their three-game road trip on Saturday when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans. Tip-off is at 7 PM.
