Bulls' Rose feeling much better
A few days ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers appeared to be a battered and beaten team with Kevin Love out, Kyrie Irving struggling with injuries to both legs and Iman Shumpert coping with a groin strain.
Well, Love isn't coming back, but in Tuesday's Game 5 at Quicken Loans Arena, Irving scored 25 points and Shumpert had 13. They were the Cavs' second- and third-leading scorers after LeBron James' 38.
So maybe there's hope for the beat-up Bulls. Pau Gasol is planning to play in Thursday's Game 6 after missing the previous two with a left-hamstring strain.
Derrick Rose reinjured his right shoulder in the third quarter of Game 5 and appeared to be in bad shape. He missed his last 11 shots and struggled to put on his hoodie in the locker room after the game.
On Wednesday at the Advocate Center, coach Tom Thibodeau said Rose's shoulder was feeling much better. “He was nicked up pretty good,” Thibodeau said. “He said he feels a lot better today.”
The Bulls mostly watched film, but Rose stuck around for some extra shooting, so the shoulder injury shouldn't stop him from playing in Game 6.
He can look at Irving for inspiration. During the second half of Game 3 and all of Game 4, the Cavs point guard hit 3 of 21 shots from the field. On Tuesday, he was 9-for-16.
“Great players always have the ability to rise up,” Thibodeau said. “Most of these guys are nicked up in some way right now. They're still dangerous. It doesn't take much for him to get going.”
Dellavedova gets penalized:
Taj Gibson was given a flagrant foul and ejected from Tuesday's Game 5 at the 10:25 mark of the fourth quarter.
Gibson claimed he was just trying to break loose from Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova, who had Gibson's foot in a leg clamp. The referees felt Gibson kicked Dellavedova, resulting in the ejection.
“I still don't understand it,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “It was a nothing play.”
The NBA agreed partially with Gibson. On Wednesday, the league office added a technical foul on Dellavedova, who went unpunished originally.
While Aaron Brooks scored on a driving lay-in, Dellavedova tried to box out the taller Gibson and both players fell to the ground. Gibson was on top of the Cavs guard and as he tried to stand up, Dellavedova locked his legs onto Gibson's foot. Clearly, Gibson was frustrated by the lack of foul calls on a couple of previous offensive possessions.
After Game 5, most Bulls felt it was nothing that deserved an ejection, while some Cavs were calling for a suspension. There was no further penalty for Gibson announced Wednesday.
Asked what he thought about the leg-lock maneuver, Joakim Noah was succinct. “Good move,” he said with a smile.
Game 7 time frame:
If there's a Game 7 needed in Cleveland on Sunday, it will be played at night. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m. Central time, unless a Game 7 is needed in both the Clippers-Rockets and Warriors-Grizzlies series. If that happens, the Bulls and Cavs would begin at 6 p.m. Central at Quicken Loans Arena. The game would be televised by TNT.