Just when it seems the Cavs take one step forward, they take one step back. It was the tango they started earlier in the year before the run they went on and are back to their back-and-forth affair.
A game they should have won, and a game that is hard to lose. I keep coming back to Jarrett Allen being asked to guard DeMar DeRozan through screens, and on the perimeter, with 13 seconds left after Max Strus and Dean Wade had guarded him so well all night. I get the thought, to show DeRozan length when they need a three, but that’s a tough ask for a big to guard a wing on the perimeter through action. But I digress.
There are really no excuses for this loss. The Bulls are on the second of a back-to-back as well, and missing several key players, on top of being a middling team. The Cavs were fully healthy and played their roster like a team missing half their players.
Let’s get into it.. sigh.
Strus picked up right where he left off with an opening three.
The Cavs also picked up where they left off with 12 3PA on 27 FGA in the first quarter. The shot attempts were good, and it’s good to see this number start to trend up.
Darius Garland did his best Strus impression connecting on 2-4 3P in the first quarter. He was ready and willing to launch them tonight, and had three first quarter assists.
Evan Mobley was hunting early on too, with six shot attempts for eight first quarter points.
The Bulls were hunting switches for either of their bigs early on particularly with Nikola Vucevic. He had seven early points on seven shot attempts, and five rebounds.
Isaac Okoro reminded us he doesn’t just shoot threes.
It’s too bad the Cavs couldn’t carry over their good start to the rest of the game, They held the Bulls to 40% FG, 28% 3P%, 23 points, committed zero turnovers and their shot profile was on point. But that’s how this season has gone.
The Bulls quickly went on a 13-5 run to start the second quarter powered by their bully ball. In that stretch, they had a 9-3 rebounding advantage and collected six second chance points. The Cavs were getting beat up on the glass all night.
That’s one of the concerns with the Mobley-Niang second unit pairing is their lack of size, physicality, and rebounding. The Bulls really exposed that inefficiency with the lineup, and Niang wasn’t hitting any shots to make up for it.
In the second quarter alone, the Bulls outrebounded the Cavs 23-11! Just the second quarter.
Until the Cavs can talk down the narrative, it’s always going to exist. The Cavs were not able to match the Bulls level of physicality and lesser players controlled the boards and paint for the entire game, and it had a domino effect on the team.
Donovan Mitchell finished the second quarter with no field goal attempts and only four points at half time. It was his second lowest scoring half on the season – his worst was November 26 against Toronto with two points.
How bad was the second quarter? The Cavs did not have a single player in the positive for plus-minus on the quarter.
The Cavs ended up with seven blocks at half time and had only their third double digit block night on the year with 11.
If you’re a fan of patterns, the Bulls had seven turnovers in the first quarter and zero in the second. The Cavs had zero turnovers in the first quarter and three in the second. You can guess who won each quarter.
Thanks to Garland and Mobley, and some LeVert, the Cavs went into halftime up one point. Okoro had some nice plays as well, but it was a change from previous nights when Allen and Mitchell were usually carrying the load.
The Cavs came out hot to start the half with quick 7-0 run that included a Mobley three-pointer and Garland steal on the corresponding inbounds pass that he converted for two-points. They Cavs went up four after being down three.
Then, the Bulls had their run starting with an 8-0 that morphed into a 14-5 run. During that time, the Cavs didn’t score for almost four minutes of gametime. They were lucky a Garland three-pointer ended the skid and brought them back even.
Things started to really get chippy in the third quarter, especially in the paint. Rebounds were more even in the third quarter, but the teams combined for 12 fouls.
JB Bickerstaff made some slight changes to the rotation in the third quarter, taking out Allen at the first sub and leaving Wade in to cover for Niang’s typical third quarter minutes. Niang didn’t see any minutes after half time.
The adjustment worked. Wade was key with some good individual defense on DeRozan. In that time, the Cavs went from down three to up three heading to the fourth quarter.
Wade does such a good job having the strength to fight through screens and stay steady against scorers while having the lateral agility to stay with them off the bounce and the patience to not go for shot fakes. It really created issues for DeRozan.
The start of the fourth is when you thought the Cavs might finally pull away. They came out on an 8-0 run and the Garland-Okoro-LeVert-Wade-Mobley lineup went a +7 in their minutes. The Wade-Mobley lineup is one we’ve been wanting to see, and it worked out in this instance.
Then came the Mitchell and Allen stagger and that lineup quickly posted a -5. This forced the Cavs into a timeout and the Cavs were up five at this point.
Coming out of the timeout the Bulls went on an 8-3 run to get within one under two minutes.
Up until this point, Mitchell was not himself. He had as many turnovers (4) as field goal attempts in the second half, and Ayo Dosunmu was giving him problems all night. Crunch time was not any kinder to Mitchell.
Under two minutes the Cavs had a Mitchell missed three, a Garland blocked layup and a Mitchell turnover. The Bulls only scored three points in this time. All the Cavs needed was good offensive possession and they couldn’t get it.
Once again, the first overtime was a period of missed opportunities. The Cavs were up four with 26 seconds left. They had made three three-pointers and got a pick-and-roll look with a Garland-Mitchell high screen where Coby White switching onto Mitchell allowed him to get to the rim for a score.
However, being too careful, the Cavs allowed a DeRozan layup in mere seconds.
The Cavs inbounded the ball successfully to Mitchell who was fouled….. and only made one free-throw making it a one possession game for the Bulls.
To which an Allen three-point attempt foul put DeRozan at the line to tie the game. If there was a defining moment, it was this one.
The Cavs had a chance to win it with time left on the clock. Unfortunately, Mitchell got into a set with too little time left on the clock forcing a rushed mid-range jumper that hit the front of the rim. If Mitchell makes one play in crunch time, this is a different outcome.
The second overtime was an abomination. The Bulls scored eight points, and almost four minutes went by before the Cavs scored. They had some good looks but couldn’t convert. By that time, it was too little too late.
Aside from some situational subs, LeVert + the usual starters rotated through the two overtimes. Narrowing that down further, Allen played just over a minute in both overtimes combined.
Considering JBB had already not played Niang in the second half and the team was coming off a night the game before with travel, the decision to tighten the rotation this much hurt them late.
In fairness, the Bulls ran much of their same lineup late as well after playing their starters heavy, so this wasn’t just a Cleveland issue.
But, Chicago had to with injuries. Cleveland chose to with depth.
JBB doesn’t have to play Sam Merrill thirty minutes but some burn to allow for better late game freshness is why you get him early minutes.
Only eight players played in the second half, and seven saw double digit minutes.
This is one of the biggest concerns moving forward with this team: Your coach may be a bus driver trying to drive a formula one car. He’s been successful when all the chips are down and he’s proven to do more with less, but he’s also struggled to do more with more, the post All-Star break games haven’t dissuaded anyone from those thoughts.
Mobley with his highest point total since February 3 and highest rebound total since February 5.
Garland took no shame in launching 14 3PA and connecting on seven of them. His 14 3PA was the highest 3PA mark since November 13, 2022 and the only double-digit 3PA total on the year.
Just a class LeVert game. After some down games, he comes out with a points-assist double double, after just missing a triple-double two games ago, and totals 14 points, seven rebounds, 15 assist, two steals and two blocks. SOMEHOW he was a -10. Go figure.
Without LeVert, the Cavs don’t get as far as they did.
On the flipside, another classic Wade game. Only five points, two rebounds, one three-pointers made, two block and is a +12.
People were calling for a Niang benching, and JBB obliged. Niang had some rough first half minutes, and Wade took his minutes but really most of them were absorbed by the starters and LeVert then creating a larger rotation.
The shots were falling for Garland tonight, and he was looking like more of the Garland of old. If there’s one takeaway from tonight, it’s hopefully this is him getting back to the Garland we all know.
The worst two-man pairing on the night? LeVert + Strus and they were a team worst -19 in nearly 18 minutes on the floor together. That hurts.
The best two-man pairing? Wade + Okoro with a +14 in 10 minutes of play.
Chicago outrebounded the Cavs 74-39. Yes, SEVENTY FOUR TO THIRTY NINE.
This led to 35 second chance points for the Bulls on the night. That’s more points than the Cavs scored in any quarter.
The Bulls were a +8-rebounding margin in their meeting just two weeks back. This is where Tristan Thompson, or some serviceable third big man, is really missed to change the energy and physicality of the game. Mobley and Allen can get worn down, and they don’t have a lot of good rebounding around the two really putting a microscope on them doing their jobs. It’s not something they can solve now but the lack of physicality and rebounding surrounding those two, who can struggle at times, needs to be reevaluated in the offseason.
132 points is tied for the most points given up this year. The other time it happened was in Sacramento on November 13.
Up next: They travel to Detroit on Friday for a 7:00PM (ET) game.
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