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North: Thibs made the wrong defensive call

I am just starting to get over the buzzer winner by LeBron James that helped the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Bulls on Sunday.

And I question the decision by coach Tom Thibodeau to let LeBron catch and shoot after a shove to Jimmy Butler.

With 1.5 seconds left, I would have tried to deny LeBron the ball, but he made the shot and the Bulls go into Game 5 with the best-of-seven series tied 2-2.

I was on Cleveland radio the morning of the game and said that if the Bulls won and went up 3 games to 1, then they would win the series. And I also said that if the Bulls lost, the Cavs would win the series.

No Kevin Love, a hobbled Kyrie Irving and horrible shooting from James, yet the Cavs still managed to win the game. Not good.

In their NBA pregame show, I couldn't understand why Jalen Rose and Doug Collins were pleased that Taj Gibson would be starting instead of the injured Pau Gasol, who wouldn't play at all. Granted, Gasol played poorly in Game 3, but that is rare and he has been an integral part of their success this season.

Gibson had 6 points and 8 rebounds, but those are coming-off-the-bench stats, not starter ones.

The Bulls let one slip away, so now it's a best-of-three game series, folks, with two games in Cleveland.

Tiger still a draw:

How long will the networks and fans continue to follow the unpredictable Tiger Woods?

Answer: It looks like always!

I used to get upset when the networks and media would devote 75 percent of their time to Tiger even on those rare occasions when he was still in his prime but not in the running. Sometimes you didn't even know who the winner was, but you knew what was happing with Woods.

Tiger, however, was and still is box office gold. It doesn't matter if he is good, bad or indifferent.

And not knowing what Woods is going to do from tournament to tournament has made golf even more compelling and a better watch. Now Woods is looking at the twilight of his career, and add Sunday's Players Championship winner Rickie Fowler to the new crop of young stars who are emerging as stiff competition for the faltering Woods.

How long will Tiger stay around if he continues to struggle? He has all the money he needs, so what makes him continue?

Is the 39-year-old like an aging boxer fighting past his prime? I really don't know, but I do know most of the young guys he is playing against haven't even reached their prime yet.

Stay tuned …

Program notes:

Follow me on Twitter@ north2north, and listen to Fox Sports Daybreak with Andy Furman and myself from 5-8 a.m. Monday through Friday on Fox Sports radio, and check me out on iHeart radio or Foxsportsradio.com.

• North's column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.

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