5 Who Popped and 1 Who Flopped in Cavaliers' demolition of Bulls in NBA Cup

The Cleveland Cavaliers broke the Chicago Bulls.

To their credit, the Bulls survived longer than most would have expected against the undefeated Cavaliers. They withstood a 49-point first quarter from Cleveland, the most points the Cavs had ever scored in any quarter. They came back to briefly take the lead, and the game was tied at 110 points in the fourth quarter.

Then the gas pedal was pressed, Donovan Mitchell looked like himself for one of the rare times this season, and suddenly the game was ended on a 34-16 run. Once the Cavaliers started pulling away, the Bulls lost the life to live. Understanding the value of point differential for an NBA Cup game, the Cavs also didn't stop scoring late, pushing the ball up the court for a last-second Jarrett Allen dunk to increase the scoring margin to +18. They scored 19 points in the final two minutes of the game as the Bulls disintegrated.

The 144 points in regulation tied the second-most points any team in Cavaliers history has scored:

Zach LaVine of the Bulls couldn't get anything going all night, finishing 4-for-16 for just eight points. The Bulls were instead buoyed by an efficient 25 points from Nikola Vucevic and 29 on just 15 shots from Coby White. Josh Giddey had just 5 points and one assist and finished a game-worst -27 on the night.

Who performed well for the Cavaliers? Let's run through the top performers who popped against the Bulls and highlight one player who flopped.

Donovan Mitchell Popped

Donovan Mitchell has at times taken a backseat this season to Darius Garland, allowing his backcourt partner the space to shine. That formula has obviously worked for the league's No. 1 offense, and on Friday night Mitchell popped off for a flurry of scoring in the first quarter and then eased back for the next couple of quarters.

Then he was back in the fourth quarter and ready to close the game out. He dropped 18 points in the fourth as the Cavaliers went on their run. For the game, he scored 37 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists, a steal and two blocks (!), with just one turnover marring the box score. It was an efficient and explosive performance from Mitchell.

Darius Garland Popped

If Mitchell drove the bus to start and end the game, Darius Garland was making things happen through the meat of the game. He dropped 29 points of his own, including a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw stripe. He had nine assists as he orchestrated the offense, and he was a dominant +18 on the night. The two-man game between Garland and Jarrett Allen had Vucevic and the Bulls spinning in circles throughout the game.

Without question, Garland is in line to be an Eastern Conference All-Star for the second time in his career, and he has a strong All-NBA case at this point in the season as well.

Jarrett Allen Popped

Evan Mobley was sidelined with an illness, handing the duties at center to Jarrett Allen. That gave Allen plenty of space to work inside, and he put up 24 points on 11-for-15 shooting against the outmatched interior defense of Nikola Vucevic and Jaylen Smith. Allen played 37 minutes, well above his season average, and added three assists as he passed out when Chicago doubled him.

What's more, he was a monster on the defensive end. Allen warded off the paint, allowing Cleveland's perimeter defenders to play tight coverage outside and funnel players toward him. He finished the game with 10 rebounds, three steals, two blocks and a number of other interior shots deterred.

Tristan Thompson Flopped

It wasn't easy to pick any Cavalier who had a subpar performance. The entire team played well from top to bottom...except for one brief stretch in the second quarter when the Cavaliers subbed in their deep bench players, with Tristan Thompson coming in for Jarrett Allen and Craig Porter Jr. entering the rotation in the absence of Sam Merrill.

Things did not go well, and the Bulls ripped off a 24-15 run to start the second quarter and get back into contact. Thompson was the culprit for much of that, moving slowly on defense and not contributing much of anything on offense. That's not surprising, but the Cavs will need to rely on him at times this season for backup center minutes, and he just didn't have it.

Caris LeVert Popped

Caris LeVert is among the league leaders in plus-minus this season and put up another smashing performance on Friday night. He dropped 22 points on the Bulls in just 26 minutes off the bench, serving as the backup point guard for Garland and dishing out eight assists of his own. LeVert was a tidy 7-for-10 from the field, including 4-for-5 shooting from deep, and the Cavs were +18 in his minutes.

Georges Niang Popped

With all due respect to Dean Wade and his phenomenal defense all night (game-high +20 in 29 minutes, some of them at center) our final nod goes to Georges Niang, who stepped into the starting lineup and was a boss. He often ended up defending the much larger Nikola Vucevic and holding his own, crowding him on the perimeter and standing him up defensively in the paint. Vooch still got his number at times, but the Cavs weren't bleeding by putting Niang on the Bulls' best offensive player Friday night.

Niang did his best Evan Mobley impression, scoring 14 points on 4-for-8 shooting with eight rebounds (although the four 3-pointers was a sauce all his own). Kenny Atkinson has drawn out the very best of Niang thus far this season, and Friday night was his best performance yet.