Bulls play it tough, and Cavs' James appreciates effort

CLEVELAND - Coming out of a timeout with 5:17 remaining in Tuesday night's Game 5, Cleveland led 88-83 and the noise at Quicken Loans Arena was cranked up even louder as the home team tried to dispose of the Bulls.

At midcourt, the five Bulls headed back onto the court gathered together for some inspiring words.

"Kirk Hinrich, he told us we still had a shot to win," forward Taj Gibson described. "We have to steal it; we have to take it. Those are big words coming from a veteran."

The Bulls took the words to heart. Even after falling behind 93-84 with 3:29 remaining, the Bulls found the energy to score 8 straight points and suddenly, a capacity Cleveland crowd that was expecting a eulogy was suddenly on edge.

Eventually, they couldn't get a couple of key shots to fall and their season ended with a 96-94 loss in a game that probably was more competitive than most expected.

"I don't want to be known as the team that always plays hard in the first round," center Joakim Noah said. "The goal is to win the series and play in big games."

Cleveland won the series 4-1 and advanced to face Boston in the second round. When the game was over, Cavaliers star LeBron James gave the Bulls an interesting compliment.

"We wanted to play Chicago more than Toronto in this first round because we knew we'd get pushed a little more," James said. "When Chicago made the eighth seed, we were excited about that because we knew we had to be in tune. That team plays hard."

A pair of free throws by Derrick Rose brought the visitors within 93-92 with 1:36 remaining. After James drew Gibson's sixth foul and knocked down 2 free throws, the Bulls had a couple of heartbreaking moments.

First, Rose's turnaround in the lane over James settled halfway down the rim and somehow bounced out. The Bulls then forced guard Mo Williams to miss, but Joakim Noah lost the rebound out of bounds with 37.4 seconds left.

The Bulls did get the ball back still trailing by 3 when Noah stripped the ball from Anderson Varejao with 17.6 second on the clock. This time, Rose tried to draw a foul on Varejao and ended up missing a 10-footer leaning to his left.

After another free throw by James, the Bulls scored off an offensive rebound as time expired.

Rose finished with 31 points, while Luol Deng added 26. James also had a comment ready for Rose.

"He started the season probably the fifth or sixth best point guard in he league," he said. "Right now, he's one or two. He's an unbelievable talent."

The Bulls couldn't seem to catch a break in the fourth quarter. The biggest call was an apparent 3-point play by Rose that was wiped off the scoreboard.

Shaquille O'Neal fouled Rose, who turned and hit a fallaway bank shot. The referees initially counted the basket, then waved it off and the Bulls didn't score on the possession. A 3-point play by Rose would have put the visitors ahead 82-80 with 7:35 remaining.

"It hurt. They say usually if you get fouled, if you dribble again, it's not a continuation," Rose said. "But I think I picked the ball up before I ran into him and they didn't call it. LeBron got an 1-and-1 and it turned the game around."

Rose referred to James driving his way to a 3-point play on the other end. Delonte West and Antawn Jamison drained a couple of 3s and Cleveland's lead ballooned to 93-84 with 3:29 remaining.

Once again, the Bulls couldn't contain the Cavs from the 3-point line. The home team went 10-for-25 in Game 5, compared to 2-for-10 for the Bulls.

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<h1>More Coverage</h1>

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<h2>Photo Galleries</h2>

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<li><a href="/story/?id=376636">Images of Bulls vs. Cavaliers, Game 5 </a></li>

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<h2>Stories</h2>

<ul class="links">

<li><a href="/story/?id=376644"><b>IMREM:</b> Bulls cannot afford to get it wrong again<span class="date"> [4/27/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=376621">James ready to expand acting chops<span class="date"> [4/27/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=376651">Time to address Del Negro's job status<span class="date"> [4/27/10]</span></a></li>

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<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Mike McGraw's game tracker</b></p>

<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Cavaliers 96, Bulls 94</b></p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">Three star performers</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">1. Derrick Rose. The second-year guard wouldn't let the Bulls quit, scoring a game-high 31 points.</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">2. Antawn Jamison. With LeBron James supposedly suffering from a sore elbow, the former Wizard scored 14 of Cleveland's 27 points in the first quarter and finished with 25.</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">3. Luol Deng. It took five games, but Deng finally outscored James 26-19.</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">Long-distance rangers: The biggest difference in this series was Cleveland dominating in long-range shooting. The final count was 52-16 in favor of the Cavs.</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">Vinny looks forward: "I enjoy the experience, I enjoy the competitiveness. It's about the players. - I don't worry about that. I've been too fortunate in my life to worry about that." - Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro on his future with the team.</p>