Bulls vs. Cavaliers: Score, Highlights, Reaction from 2017 Regular Season
In what has been an otherwise frustrating year for the Chicago Bulls, they defeated the defending NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers for the third time this season, winning 117-99.
The Cavaliers were operating without LeBron James, who was ruled out before tipoff due to illness. With Kevin Love and J.R. Smith still out due to injuries, the onus was put on Kyrie Irving to shoulder the load.
Irving was more than up to the challenge with 34 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. He also showed off his unique ankle-breaking techniques with these crossover moves in the first quarter:
Outside of Irving, the Cavaliers struggled to find scoring options. Kyle Korver fared well from three-point range, nailing four of his seven attempts, but no one else on the team had more than 14 points.
This was the second night of a back-to-back for the Bulls. Jimmy Butler showed some fatigue early. He missed his first five shots and didn't have a point until there were two minutes left in the second quarter, but he was contributing in other ways with seven rebounds and four assists in the first quarter.
Butler would eventually find his shooting stroke, finishing with 18 points as part of a triple-double that also included 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He also put the Bulls up by nine midway through the third quarter with this pull-up three, per NBA on Twitter:
The third quarter would prove to be the difference in this game, as the Bulls outscored the Cavaliers 34-20 to open up a 13-point lead.
This has been a different Bulls team coming out of the All-Star break, with some of the roster changes leading to a more efficient offense. Head coach Fred Hoiberg's team has scored a total of 245 points over the past two games.
It's still a small sample size, and the games were against the Phoenix Suns and Cavaliers without their best player, but for a Bulls team that had been a disappointment before the All-Star break with a 28-29 record, any positives are worth highlighting.
One of those positive highlights was Dwyane Wade, who has shown no signs of stress in his wrists since returning from a three-game absence before the All-Star break.
Wade finished with 20 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, recording his first double-double since November 4 and second of the season.
Another positive sign for the Bulls was their three-point shooting. They went 15-of-30 from beyond the arc, a vast improvement from the league-worst 31.9 percent they were shooting from three-point range coming into the game.
The irony of Doug McDermott no longer being with the Bulls during this shooting barrage was not lost on Mark Schanowski of CSN Chicago:
The Bulls have had the Cavaliers' number over their last seven meetings, posting a 6-1 record. It's one of those weird anomalies in sports, though one worth keeping an eye on should these two clubs meet in the postseason.
This will go down as a loss for the Cavaliers, though James' absence does put a huge asterisk next to it. Given all the discussion around his minutes this season, a game off due to an illness isn't the worst thing for him or the team.
The Cavaliers know their season doesn't really start until April, so this defeat won't register for long. If they have another performance like this on Monday against the Milwaukee Bucks, then an eyebrow can be raised.
Postgame Reaction
Despite James' absence, Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson understood it was just one of those things that happens over the course of a long season.
"It's a long season," he said, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "Guys are going to be out. Guys are going to be hurt. Guys are going to be sick. It's part of the game of basketball. Whether it's LeBron or whoever it might be, we have to be ready to play."
Wade did admit to being a little upset his friend wasn't able to take the court but didn't let it deter the Bulls from their task at hand.
"Of course, I wanted to play against LeBron," Wade said, per the AP. "But once we knew he wasn't playing, we had to put that to the back of our mind and focus on playing a team with (Irving)."
