Game 77 | Bulls (46-30) @ Cavs (49-27) | April 5, 2015 | 3:30pm EST

[Andrew]

This was one hell of an entertaining game and great effort by this squad to beat a worthy foe to get in the right mindset for this time of year.

The Cleveland Cavaliers made 16 threes and JR went absolute bat-shit crazy tonight with 8 of them to tally 24 points, he didn’t even attempt a 2 point shot the entire time! Irving got it going too with 27 and some big impressive and nasty plays and of course, James. He tallied his first triple-double this season and he is going to have at least 2 in the playoffs, just watch.

A few things I saw; Noah/Gasol only got 18 points. While Mosgov tallied 11, he made it so difficult in the paint for anyone not in a Cleveland jersey. Also, Love sighting in the 4th. A little over 4 minutes in that quarter, he hit a nice clutch 3. Kind of baffled that their best 4th quarter lineup doesn’t include Love, but it was nice to see him out there and doing something that late.

I got to give a fail to ABC/ESPN. Usually when game 1 of a double-header runs late, they have a ticker on the bottom or mention game 2 will tip off at a specific time on ESPNews. There was no ticker and no one mentioned it was underway on a different channel until it actually already started. I usually record the game twice in standard def and in high def so with Directv I was lucky to know about this and changed to ESPNews on a different tv to see the beginning of the telecast (game had yet to start), so when I hit record I had to manually stop 1 of the 2 recordings I had going on so it started to record the game right after tip. Sure, I know most of you missed all the minutes that weren’t shown on ABC, but with my OCD missing 7 seconds is huge. Luckily, League Pass Broadband has the game archived and I was able to see the tip after I was done with the game. Wow, I need help. This paragraph describing my OCD is longer than me discussing the game. I even tried to come on here as it happened to see if anyone else missed any time or knew to switch channels but at that point it was 10 minutes in and I hate to have ANYTHING spoiled so I clicked on an off topic thread and got the hell out lol. All this for a miss tip, the score was nothing to nothing when I hit record, I didn’t miss anything. If anything, as I hit record Smith hit a 3 so bummed that was spoiled but better the first basket scored spoiled than the last as I was also able to see when ESPNews ended their coverage without running the score for myself (just watching the top of the screen to know when to stop)

 

[Adam]

I couldn't help but think this was a bad win for the cavs. They needed huge amounts of luck to win it. They didnt cover the bulls sets well defensively (how many times was a player open under the basket from a simple cut?) The offense relied way too much on the three and not always open. I cant help but feel the tape session might not be a fun as they expect it to be

 

[TheBigAristotle]

For me this game was average from a Cavs team play point of view, spiced with some great individual highlights (buzzer-beaters/halfcourt shots) that made it entertaining to watch.

I thought we took too many threes and didn't play the offense well. Despite LeBron's triple double he wasn't great either: two airballs, a few turnovers and bad shots that broke the offensive flow and yet the Cavs still won the game. Encouraging, but we'll have to play different in the PO: you cannot put your faith in the three point shot to win a series.

That being said, I don't see how the Bulls can beat the Cavs if we play the kind of ball like against the Grizzlies and Dallas

 

[David.]

..how on earth scould you say we took too many threes? we shot better from three than 2.

 

[Jscc]

..how on earth scould you say we took too many threes? we shot better from three than 2.

Baffles me too. I don't think anyone that says that carefully watched each three to see how wide open the looks really were. Cleveland didn't take them just to take them or because the team preferred them.

If the paint was wide open, the team would've scored there instead but Chicago was terrified of our slashers so they packed it. When Chicago did defend the perimeter, Cleveland made cuts to the basket for easy buckets.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

 

[Evgeni]

I think the threes were really good, it's just that personally I have more fun looking at Spurs-like team play rather than the shooting contest that was this game

 

[CLEistheCITY]

This game had the opportunity to be a blow out. Several times the cavs were up in the double digits and then after a timeout they had a let down and let the Bulls bring it back to single digits. If they would have just kept the focus on for a little longer they would have been up 20 and the Bulls would have folded. Instead they allowed the game to become a 5 point win and gave the Bulls a moral victory.

 

[caf]

For all those worried about the Bulls... They've never made it to a game 6 against LeBron.

Noah should probably spend less time trash talking and more time figuring out how to win more than one game.

 

[Zman80000]

Here's a beauty from a Bulls site in an article.

Blatt, though, didn’t appear to pull the reins in on J.R. Smith when he went off the rails after an explosive first half. Every one of Smith’s 17 shots came from behind the 3-point line, an NBA record. It works when you start off six for eight, but the nine he took in the second half showed glaring signs of being undisciplined, out of control and worst of all, unchecked by the head coach

So JR went 3 for 9 after his hot start.
Guess who else was 3 for 9 from 3?
Mirotic.

So Blatt has no control over JR, but it's ok for Thibs to let Mirotic who is at 30.4% from 3 for the season jack up 9 3's?

Dear Chicago homer writer, LOL, when a guy is hot and feeling it he should be shooting more.
Especially when Chicago was packing the paint and the looks were open.

 

[Binkster]

Good win, but not so fun to watch. Not enough team play, and too much 3pt shooting. The defense was great, But it's just not that entertaining.

 

[SteelSmack]

I wouldn't call this a bad win. We didn't even try and it took Dunleavy playing like Durant for them to even be in it.

LeBron took Butler down low and abused him. Love didn't want to take a shot until the clincher. The refs looked like they were trying to keep the game close for the division race and TV ratings. LeBron got called for a flagrant for standing still and having muscle and Noah got to hit his head mid-air while pulling him down and got a common foul.

Sure we got a few lucky jumpers to fall, but it would have taken a lot for the Bulls to beat us if we were trying.

 

[3 Da Hard Way]

Got into it with Lebron, called him a pussy after Lebron was halfway down the court, after his team just put on an epic flopping display for the last 2 1/2 hours...

Typical Noah shit...

Noah is a interesting dude

 

[Helium filament]

I hope we get a game thread tonight.... I know there's still time, but it feels like it's been forever since our last game, and I'm ready for this one.

 

[tocov]

Why shouldn't we?

Anyway, Rose is back tonight for Chicago against Orlando. Hope he shits the bed haha