Bulls vs. Cavs lacking some luster

Is it fair to call Monday's Bulls-Cavaliers game in Cleveland, the "Disappointment Bowl?"

Of course not, it's only midseason.

But when everyone figured the Bulls and Cavs-plus-LeBron were destined to meet in the playoffs, they didn't expect it to be a 4 seed vs. 5 matchup in the first round.

Actually, if the season ended today, that wouldn't happen. Milwaukee still had a half-game lead on Cleveland for fifth place on Sunday morning. So the playoff matchup would be Bulls vs. Bucks, with the Cavs as the No. 6 seed.

These next few weeks should be interesting for the Cavs. Monday's contest will be their first at Quicken Loans Arena since James came back from an eight-game rest period, joining newcomers J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov for the first time at home.

James averaged 33.7 points in his first three games back, which included a loss at Phoenix, then back-to-back wins in Los Angeles over the Lakers and Clippers. Before beating the Lakers, Cleveland had gone 1-9 in its previous 10 games, played mostly LeBron-less.

So far, James' return hasn't done much to resolve the Cavs' biggest problem - defense. The Cavaliers rank 29th in the NBA in opponents' field-goal percentage at .472.

The Bulls will still be shorthanded. The team has already declared Joakim Noah and Mike Dunleavy out for Monday's game with ankle injuries. Doug McDermott was upgraded to questionable.

Do the Bulls need to get back to full strength before they can solve their slump, which now includes 5 losses in seven games? They'd better hope they can figure it out, because the injuries keep coming. The Bulls can't count on playing at full strength by the end of the season.

Usually, the Bulls have been able to figure things out and finish strong under coach Tom Thibodeau, but not always. In 2010-11 and 2013-14, the Bulls made a six-game improvement in the second half. If they did that again, they'd finish with 60 wins this season.

In 2012-13, the Bulls were five games worse in the second half. During the lockout season of 2011-12, their record was the same in both halves.

Special hot sauce:

Here's a good question for the next two weeks before all-star rosters are selected: Is Atlanta's Kyle Korver an all-star?

On Saturday against the Bulls, he looked like the ultimate basketball weapon, draining 7 of 9 attempts from 3-point range in the Hawks' 107-99 win at the United Center.

On the season, Korver is shooting .536 from 3-point range. 50 percentage points higher than second-place Courtney Lee at .486.

Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer is making great use of Korver. The world's most dangerous 3-point shooter forces opponents to follow him everywhere, which creates space for point guard Jeff Teague to penetrate, while big men Al Horford and Paul Millsap avoid double-teams inside.

At this point, it looks like it will take a significant injury to prevent the Hawks from landing the No. 1 seed in the East.

But an all-star? Maybe not. Overall, Korver is averaging just 13.2 points per game, so it's tough to argue Korver ahead of, say, Jimmy Butler at 20.6 points and 6.0 rebounds, even if he has been in a recent slump.

Atlanta definitely deserves multiple all-stars - Teague and Millsap for sure, probably Horford as well. But the East all-stars will be a challenge if New York's Carmelo Anthony and Miami's Dwyane Wade are voted starters. The coaches must include Teague, Toronto's Kyle Lowry and Washington's John Wall.

If Horford and Millsap both make it, there would be room for only two more, with Butler, Cleveland's Kyrie Irving, Miami's Chris Bosh and Orlando center Nik Vuecevic looking like the best still on the board.

Korver's succes in Atlanta lends credence to the theory that the Bulls' offense functions better when Mike Dunleavy is on the floor, because opponents respect his 3-point shooting.

Dunleavy makes $3 million this season. For a little more than double that salary, the Bulls could have kept and maybe re-signed Korver. But then, the cap space would have been different when the Bulls pursued Pau Gasol as a free agent. Who knows if the Bulls would be in a better spot.

But Atlanta would be in a worse spot without him, and the Bulls could use some help there.

• Get the latest Bulls news via Twitter by following @McGrawDHBulls.