Bulls go full throttle at finish
A year ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers were on top of the world, rolling to their second straight 60-win season.
Everyone is well aware of what happened next. LeBron James made his nationally televised decision, bailed on his hometown, and the Cavs have been reeling without him.
As sad as the situation may be, the Bulls were in no position to feel any empathy Saturday night at the United Center. They built a 20-point lead in the third quarter, but when it came time to step on the Cavaliers' throats, they didn't drop the shoe.
Cleveland mounted an unexpected comeback to close within 77-75 with 4:38 remaining. That's when the Bulls finally perked up and finished off a 92-79 victory.
“They played hard. Then you give them hope and all of the sudden you're fighting for your life,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “That's what happened. We've got to do a lot better.”
The Cavaliers (8-35) suffered their 16th straight loss and have dropped 26 of their last 27 games. The NBA record for consecutive losses in a single season is 23, shared by Vancouver and Denver.
“I thought tonight we played like we knew we had a chance to win,” said Cavs forward Antawn Jamison, who scored 31 points. “We started playing defense and got a confidence that we could win.”
Jamison's driving lay-in brought Cleveland within 2 points, capping a 15-5 run. At that point the Bulls (30-14) didn't have a single field goal in the final quarter, just 5 free throws. But that changed in a hurry.
Following a timeout, Derrick Rose broke the field-goal drought with a driving lay-in and 3-point play. Kyle Korver added a 3-point basket, and Carlos Boozer finished a physical 3-point play to complete a 9-0 Bulls run that lasted just 1:12.
Rose tacked on a jumper and another driving lay-in to make it 90-77 with 2:01 remaining. After Cleveland had closed within 2, the Bulls scored 13 points on their next five possessions.
“A lot of it's because of Derrick,” forward Luol Deng said. “He made those plays at the end. Boozer made plays. We've got guys who can do that.”
Rose scored just 4 points in the first half but finished strong to post 24 points and 8 assists. Boozer returned from three games off with a left-ankle sprain to produce 20 points and 10 rebounds. Deng added 20 points and 12 boards.
This game was absolutely dreadful at times. After missing their first 7 shots of the third quarter, the Cavaliers were shooting an even 25 percent from the field (12-for-48). The visitors improved their marksmanship but finished the night shooting 32.1 percent.
Boozer played 35 minutes in his return from the ankle injury and hit 8 of 18 shots.
“I felt decent,” he said. “I didn't have the bounce I wanted to have to get the rebounds. It will keep getting better as time goes on.
“Even at 80 percent or whatever I am, it felt good enough to play. So I'm happy I played. I'm happy we won.”