1 stud, 1 dud in Cavs dispiriting loss to short-handed Bulls
The Cleveland Cavaliers have had a pattern this season. When facing teams missing one or more star players, they have brought the hammer. Show an obvious rotational weakness to this upstart group and they would pounce. Miami, Milwaukee, Utah — even some of the league’s best teams have lost big when they didn’t bring their full arsenal against the Cavs.
That was supposed to be the outcome against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night, especially since when the teams met in December in such a situation the Cavs clobbered the Bulls. This time around, with the Bulls missing Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball, among others, the Cavs should have been in line to do so once again.
Instead the Bulls, losers of four straight coming into the game, entered in a place of desperation that the Cavs, riding a five-game winning steak, did not have. The game was close throughout, including 102-103 with four minutes to go, before the Bulls blew it open down the stretch to win 117-104 and halt the Cavs’ win streak.
The Cavs went to Chicago and lost to the short-handed Bulls. Who stood out for good or ill from Wednesday night’s disappointing game?
DeMar DeRozan led the way with a game-high 30 points, scoring primarily through an unstoppable stream of tough jumpers from all over the court. Nikola Vucevic broke out of a slump and poured in another 24 points himself, while rookie guard Ayo Dosunmu hit 7-of-8 shots for 18 points with eight assists. Alex Caruso returned from a long absence to post a game-high +18.
The Cavs as a whole struggled to slow down the Bulls, who shot 54.7 percent from the field and 10-of-22 (45.5 percent) from deep. Offensively the Cavs played well until that late-game stall out. Evan Mobley and Darius Garland both played well, with Mobley scoring an efficient 18 points and Garland putting up a double-double with 20 points and 12 assists.
Who from the Cavs had the best night against the Bulls, and who had the worst? Let’s highlight one stud and one dud from this loss to the short-handed Bulls to help illustrate the story of what happened on Wednesday night.