On the final day of 2022, the Cleveland Cavaliers got a hard-fought 103-102 win over the Chicago Bulls in the Windy City. Two days later, these two Central Division foes played a much different game, albeit with the same outcome.
Cleveland fell behind early in the first quarter, as Chicago scored 34 points on 62 percent shooting. The Bulls built off their strong opening quarter and scored 31 points in the second quarter on 50 percent shooting.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers struggled to shoot the ball for much of the first half, as they connected on just 6-of-20 from beyond the arc and made 44 percent overall in the opening 24 minutes. Heading into the second half, Cleveland trailed by 18 points, and a lot was going to have to improve for the Cavaliers to avoid a third straight home loss.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were down big against the Chicago Bulls, and then Donovan Mitchell happened.
The message from head coach J.B. Bickerstaff must have been an effective one because Cleveland looked quite different in the third quarter. While the Cavaliers allowed 31 points in the third quarter, their offense started to convert shots they were missing earlier. Overall, Cleveland poured in 44 third-quarter points on 57 percent shooting to cut Chicago’s lead from 18 points to five points.
For much of the fourth quarter, Cleveland kept knocking on the door of gaining the lead but could not break through. Cleveland never officially had the lead in the final quarter but did enough to be in a position to tie the game late. But if it weren’t for a well-executed missed free throw putback by Donovan Mitchell, the Cavaliers would have lost. In the overtime period, Cleveland’s defense held Chicago to just four total points, and the Wine and Gold scored 15 points to get the double-digit overtime victory.
As for the stud of the Bulls game last night, that’s an easy choice.