Chicago Bulls vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Game 2 Grades and Analysis
In Game 1, the Chicago Bulls were all over the Cleveland Cavaliers like syrup on pancakes, but in Game 2, they got pancaked. The Cavs never trailed in a convincing 106-91 victory, evening the series 1-1. The Cavs had to have this game, and LeBron James played with an attacking mentality that seemed impossible to thwart, scoring 33 points.
It seemed like the Bulls showed up late to the arena, as they trailed 24-6 after eight minutes of play and failed to show much pugnacity of any sort in the first half. With slightly more than three minutes elapsed in the second half, the Bulls trailed 72-47. Then they lurched to life, reeling off a 14-0 run behind hot shooting and hotter defense.
The Bulls still trailed by 11 when the run finished, but they had made it a game once again and put pressure back on the Cavs. Then that wave of momentum broke back, and the Cavs rode to victory without any further scares.
| LeBron James | A |
| Kyrie Irving | A- |
| Iman Shumpert | B+ |
| Tristan Thompson | B |
| Timofey Mozgov | B- |
| Rest of Team | B+ |
| Derrick Rose | C |
| Jimmy Butler | C |
| Mike Dunleavy | C |
| Pau Gasol | C |
| Joakim Noah | C- |
| Rest of Team | B- |
Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron James, Small Forward
LeBron scored 22 points in the first half on 18 field-goal attempts, his most shots in a half in his postseason career, as noted on TNT. That had to be due to the momentous return of his headband or perhaps because the team would be in a deep 0-2 series hole with a loss on Wednesday and two games in Chicago up next.
James attacked and penetrated, worked in the post and generally looked like he had flashing lights and sirens on him compared to every other player. He got his 33 points on 13-of-29 shooting plus eight boards, five assists, two steals and a block. While floor ratings can be misleading, his mighty plus-31 is not.
King James would not allow the Bulls to defeat his team on this night, even if he played one-on-five. He also declared his own headband a "game-time decision" for the next contest during the postgame interview with TNT's Rachel Nichols.
Grade: A
Kyrie Irving, Point Guard
Kyrie Irving seemed to feed off LeBron's aggression, keeping with the team's mentality in Game 2 after a forgettable Game 1. Irving attacked and attacked, proceeding to the foul line with regularity like his name was James Harden.
While Irving only notched three assists, the dimes weren't needed. He scored 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting plus a tidy 10-of-12 performance at the line. When LeBron and Kyrie both have their mojo working like this, opponents might as well pack their things and go home.
Grade: A-
Iman Shumpert, Shooting Guard
With J.R. Smith serving the second game of his two-game suspension for punching Jae Crowder during the team's first-round series win, Iman Shumpert has fortuitously been thrust into the starting lineup. And he proved head coach David Blatt a wise man with a strong shooting performance to start his night.
Shumpert hit a trio of three-pointers and finished with 10 points and two steals—in the first quarter. He rolled to 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals by the time the game was over, but he could have had an even more prodigious night.
Shumpert headed for the locker room during the third quarter with a "left groin strain," according to the TNT telecast, which stated his return as probable as it showed him riding a stationary bike. He did return in the fourth quarter, even with the Cavs again leading comfortably by 18, and that was probably completely unnecessary. The team can't afford to lose his defense on the wing.
Grade: B+
Timofey Mozgov, Center
Timofey Mozgov committed his third foul midway through the second quarter, which ushered in some small-ball lineups for Cleveland. James Jones played at the 4 for a stretch.
Mozgov played passably in his time on court, and his per-36 numbers would be very pretty indeed. In 18 minutes, he recorded six points, seven rebounds, a steal and a block. However, the Cavs' dominance in this win came from elsewhere.
Grade: B-
Tristan Thompson, Power Forward
With Kevin Love done for the playoffs, Tristan Thompson makes for a pretty good substitute at starting power forward. A No. 4 pick in the 2011 draft, the Canadian stands at 6'9" but seems to play longer than that.
He filled in nicely on the boards in Love's absence, grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds, four more than any other player. Thompson was the main reason for the Cavs' generous advantage on the boards for much of the night, but that gap narrowed to just eight rebounds by the final horn. Thompson also scored five points.
Grade: B
Rest of Team
James Jones is only on the team because LeBron trusts him, or so the narrative goes. Well, that trust resulted in a 17-point barrage off the bench, with Jones connecting on five of his nine tries from long range. You might have thought the 34-year-old turned into Kyle Korver.
With Shumpert dealing with a strained groin, Matthew Dellavedova received substantial playing time off the pine, and he had a ball. Delly dished nine dimes to go with his nine points, accounting for nearly half the team's assists while losing only two turnovers.
Kendrick Perkins blocked two shots and generally stood around scowling.
Mike Miller had four rebounds and no points, but his winning a loose ball had some Chicagoans packing it in.
Grade: B+
Chicago Bulls
Jimmy Butler, Shooting Guard
Jimmy Butler scored 11 first-half points, mostly coming at the free-throw line, but he struggled to guard LeBron James after seeing success in Game 1. He picked it up in the second half, but it was a sour shooting performance from the budding two-way star who ended with 18 points on 5-of-14 shooting.
Just hours after ESPN's Marc Stein tweeted that Butler would be named the league's Most Improved Player this season, he posted a game-low minus-26 floor rating. As with the rest of the Bulls, Butler will put this dud behind him and focus on maintaining the team's newfound home-court advantage.
Grade: C
Derrick Rose, Point Guard
Despite flirting with triple-double numbers, Derrick Rose failed to be the potent scoring presence he flashed in Game 1 when he had a team-high 25 points.
Rose scored 14 points and needed 20 shots to get there, which put a serious damper on his 10 assists and seven rebounds. The Bulls offense shot just 40.5 percent and never got in rhythm against a Cavs team that enjoyed a 10-point advantage in points off turnovers.
The Bulls' starting backcourt, consisting of a former MVP and the league's newest Most Improved Player, spat up an 11-of-34 shooting performance with a chance to take control of the series on the line.
Grade: C
Pau Gasol, Power Forward
In a stunning turn of events, Pau Gasol did not record a double-double. He produced 11 points and only four rebounds, adding a couple of steals as well.
The primary reason why Gasol didn't come anywhere close to his customary double-double is the strong rebounding of Thompson. According to many on Twitter—and not just the trolls—Gasol variously got roasted or his lunch was eaten by the young man from Toronto. And the numbers bear that out.
Suddenly, Love's absence has presented Cleveland's opponents with a new set of challenges.
Grade: C
Joakim Noah, Center
Though he dealt with a little foul trouble, the main story was Noah's continued impotence on offense. He came up with zero points and missed all four of his shots in Game 1, so this outing was a success by comparison. But it wasn't particularly pretty.
He scored four points on four shots and missed his only pair of free throws, but he did not seem to have the inclination on offense to try to score at times, leaving the Cavs to defend with more help on his four teammates. Noah added seven boards and four dimes, but it was a flat performance from the heart-and-soul center.
Grade: C-
Mike Dunleavy , Small Forward
This game would have been the perfect time for Mike Dunleavy to get hot and start nailing shots from the perimeter, but that didn't happen. Instead, he tallied eight points, four board and two steals.
He was also a bit sloppy with possession, tying for the game high with three turnovers. That's not what they teach at Duke.
Grade: C
Rest of Team
If the Bulls had a few clones of Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson, they would have won Game 2. Hinrich made all three shots he took, netting eight points, and Gibson nailed all five of his tries for 11.
Then there's Aaron Brooks, a human roller coaster who came up with four points on just 1-of-8 shooting in the defeat.
Grade: B-
Coming Up Next
Game 3 swings back to Chicago on Friday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. After losing a home game to the Cavs in overtime early this season, the Bulls more recently came away 113-98 winners in Chicago on Feb. 12. But the Cavs have looked much more dangerous since then, and they'll get J.R. Smith back for Game 3.
