Cavaliers rain down 3-pointers on Bulls
It would be easy to blame the Bulls' loss at Cleveland on crazy 3-point shooting.
The Cavaliers went 16-for-37 from 3-point range Sunday, setting a new season high for a Bulls opponent for 3-pointers made in a game.
But when all was said and done, the Bulls lost 99-94 at Quicken Loans Arena. They never threatened to take the lead in the fourth quarter but could easily have turned the tables in a 5-point game with better execution.
The Bulls' lapses fell into two basic categories: playing defense with the clock running down and being smarter offensively, especially during key possessions.
The Bulls (46-31) remain a game ahead of Toronto for third place in the East with five left to play. If the standings stay the same, the Bulls and Cavs would be on target to meet in the second round of the playoffs. Cleveland (50-27) essentially has locked up the No. 2 seed behind Atlanta.
"It would be great to play (the Cavaliers) in the playoffs," Joakim Noah told reporters after the game. "It would be very, very exciting, something that I really hope happens. We're a confident group. We know Cleveland's a very good team, but we believe in ourselves.
"If the opportunity presents itself and we could play Cleveland, we would be very happy as a team."
Cleveland's J.R. Smith went 8-for-17 from 3-point range and never took a 2-point shot or free throw. LeBron James collected his first triple-double of the season with 20 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.
Three of Cleveland's 3-pointers might fall into the lucky category, but they also could have been prevented with better defense by the Bulls.
Kyrie Irving drained a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer, Smith tossed one in at the second quarter buzzer, then in the third quarter, Irving had to toss up a shot from beyond midcourt with the shot clock about to expire - and it went in.
Irving's first-quarter buzzer-beater came off a baseline inbounds pass that could have been defended better. In the second quarter, the Cavs had the ball under their own basket with 2.9 seconds on the clock, but the Bulls let them complete a long pass to Smith, who tossed in a prayer while falling out of bounds.
On the half-court shot, the Bulls didn't get a hand in Irving's face. This is the NBA, and it's a good idea to challenge every shot.
The Bulls finished with 16 turnovers, not far above their season average, but the timing of their giveaways was costly.
During the final five minutes, Aaron Brooks stopped in the lane and threw a pass that bounced past Mike Dunleavy out of bounds. With the Bulls down 5, Jimmy Butler tried to drive the baseline with little room to maneuver and was hit with an offensive foul for hooking his arm around Kevin Love.
Then with the spread at 6 points, the Bulls let the shot clock wind down and Pau Gasol lost control of the ball when he tried to drive toward the hoop, which isn't really his specialty.
Dunleavy led the Bulls with 24 points, followed by Brooks with 17 and Butler with 16.
Of course, the Bulls hope to have Derrick Rose back on the floor and playing well if these teams meet again. Rose told ABC's Lisa Salters that he's not sure when he will return from his latest knee injury, but it probably will be this week.
The Bulls play at Orlando on Wednesday, Miami on Thursday and host Philadelphia on Saturday.
"Everything's going according to plan," Thibodeau told reporters before the game. "Only he knows his body, and that's the big thing. He's got to continue to work through it, and I trust him. When he says, he's ready."
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