Round 1, Game 4 | Cavaliers at Bulls | April 25, 2010 | 3:30 ET

[Otsego Mar]

I thought the game was Saturday at 3:30........it's like Christmas again.

 

[Powerslave]

We should just pay someone to sit in the front row and motivate LeBron

"Hey LeBron! You can't shoot!"
"Hey LeBron! You can't post up!"
"Hey LeBron! You can't run plays for Jamison!"
"Hey LeBron! You can't tell Mike Brown to play JJ more!"

 

[Showmeyourbolt]

Cavs by eight.

 

[blank964]

I know you're not done with the preview but you might want to use this photo for Delnegro

It's either rock paper scissors or practice for something else

 

[Adam]

Two things i'm hoping to see are;

the cavs getting back to the physical defensive identity and mike brown being a bit more considered about his offense with different rotations, lets see lebron sit and AJ in the post, the pick away for shaq with mo up top and parker in the corner etc... i think we need to deliberately sit lebron to get everyone else to be more assertive.

 

[Otsego Mar]

The 2 things I'm hoping to see are a duba-you & everyone healthy.

 

[MoFlo]

Your NumbersDon't preview:

Game Preview – Sunday April 25, 2010 – Cleveland Cavaliers @ Chicago Bulls – Game 4

The Cavaliers look to regroup after suffering a heartbreaking setback loss in Game 3 @ Chicago, after coming back from 22 points down to lose by 2. No doubt the Clevelanders have some work to do & get back on track in a few areas, including but not limited to: free throw shooting, transition D, and turnovers. The Cavaliers also have to take advantage of the mismatch Shaq has against this team when he’s in the game. Go to the big man & let him go to work. That being said, I would be more than happy to see more J.J Hickson in a smaller, more athletic set for the rest of this series.​

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Cam takes a look at whether or not Josh Smith is the LeBron James of Atlanta.

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[mult336]

I know i am an advocate of shaq not playing much the next game but if he scores effectively he is totally a different weapon and is completely useful...... How ironic is that?

 

[Rick Astley]

We'lll win.

 

[di0p]

Scouts Inc. Preview and Adjustments
By John Carroll, Scouts Inc.

The Cleveland Cavaliers should have known what to expect when they played the Chicago Bulls last night, but it looked as if they were surprised. The Bulls back home and down 2-0 in the series played with tremendous emotion and intensity. They played with the urgency that all teams down 2-0 play with. Even though the Lakers lost Thursday they appeared dialed in at the beginning of the game versus the Thunder. Is that the difference between a NBA Championship team and a team that wants to be a champion. The Cavs lack of urgency got them down nine at the end of the first quarter and eventually 21 points in the third quarter.

Hopefully the Cavs learned something during Game 3 in Chicago. They came back from 21 down to cut the lead to two, but they had dug themselves such a deep hole they were not able to climb out of it. You can fool around and not be prepared in the regular season, and lose a game. But do that in late April or May and you might be sitting home. The Cavs will probably beat the Bulls in this series but if they happen to do that in the next round it may cost them.

The Bulls have relied on Derrick Rose who scored 31 points on Thursday and who has averaged 27.3 points and 8 assists in the first three games. He has been their only consistent offensive player. But last night they got a major contribution from two other perimeter players and that provided the difference in the game. Kirk Hinrich and Loul Deng combined for 47 points. If the Bulls want to win Game 4 they will need more than one scorer. They will need for Hinrich, Deng, Joakim Noah or Brad Miller to step up their game.

Game 4 Adjustments

The Cavs need to get off to a quick start in Game 4. They must put their foot down and stomp on the Bulls. They cannot let the Bulls think they can win Game 4. They must have a good first half, work much harder on defense than they did in Game 3 and not settle for early or quick shots on offense.

The Cavs are almost unstoppable when LeBron James has the ball and breaks down his man off the dribble and gets to the paint. He is either going to score, get fouled or get one of his teammates a wide open jump shot. When the Cavs space the court with Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison, and Anthony Parker and let LeBron operate it puts incredible pressure on the defense. When they got down 21 points they utilized this offensive strategy the rest of the game. The Bulls must pick their poison with sagging and helping onto Lebron and leaving shooters wide open. The key for the Cavs is for LeBron not to settle for contested 3 point shots. He cannot settle for that shot if the Cavs want to win this series or the next.

I really liked the move to put LeBron on Derrick Rose in the last four minutes of the game. LeBron does not have the speed of Rose, but he does have the athleticism and length to guard him. He obviously cannot do it for 48 minutes but going to it late in the fourth quarter was a very good strategy. Look for it to be employed in future games.

The Cavs made some mistakes involving their late game situations. With 10.1 seconds to go they ran a play that went directly to Anderson Varejao. They wanted to dump it into him and run some type of screening action for their 3 point shooters. The problem is that the Bulls fouled him immediately and they never got into their play. Varejao is a poor free throw shooter. The Cavs needed to inbound the ball to an excellent shooter knowing that the Bulls may foul. He only made 1-2 free throws. Secondly, they should have subbed and gone small on the ensuing out of bounds play. The Bulls screened big on small, if the Cavs had a smaller lineup in they could have switched the screen and stopped one of the Bulls best free throw shooters from getting the ball. Lastly, they got stuck with no timeout with 3.5 seconds to go in the game. The Bulls, up two points, missed a free throw and the Cavs had to go the full court. If the Cavs had a timeout left, they could have advanced the ball to beyond half court and inbounded from there. It is poor clock management not to have a timeout left at the end of the game.

The game plan is simple for the Bulls in Game 4. Play with the same urgency and emotion that they did in Game 3. Let Derrick Rose operate with the ball, run a ton of pick and rolls for him and play off of them. Rose has been unstoppable. Mo Williams is a good player but he does not have the speed to keep up with Rose. Rose gets wherever he wants with the ball. Rose must continue to read the trapping defenses of the Cavs. When he comes off the pick he must read whether he is open, the roll man is open or the perimeter shooters are open. Rose did a great job of this in Game 3. He had seven assists and no turnovers. Several of Roses teammates must continue to step up in Game 4, and make shots, if the Bulls want to win. They must take some of the offensive pressure off of their outstanding point guard.

Prediction: Cavaliers win Game 4

 

[zoomlebron]

I will be at this game. I'm hoping to see a motivated team that dominates from the start. I actually expect Shaq to have a huge impact on this game.

 

[JayP146]

PDcavsinsider

Officials for Game 4: Bennett Salvatore, Mike Callahan, Derrick Stafford. Cavs have had success this season with Bennett as crew chief.

Encouraging.

PDcavsinsider

Cavs have had some losses with Callahan this season. But, in general, a much more experienced crew than the one that worked Game 3.

 

[TJ Detweiler]

Cavs by 100.

 

[MikeSwim07]

Salvatore

 

[wuck]

Windhorst's preview:

Cleveland Cavaliers at Chicago Bulls, Game 4: Windhorst Beat Blog

By Brian Windhorst, The Plain Dealer
April 25, 2010, 9:55AM

CHICAGO -- Pregame from United Center:

Projected starting lineups

Cavs: Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, LeBron James, Antawn Jamison, Shaquille O'Neal

Bulls: Derrick Rose, Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson, Joakim Noah

Officials
Bennett Salvatore, Mike Callahan, Derrick Stafford. This is a much more veteran crew than in Game 3.

• With two days off between games there has been plenty of time to breakdown what happened in the Cavs' Game 3 loss. One of the themes that fans have been pounding on is the need to play J.J. Hickson, which was given gasoline when LeBron said the exact same thing.

While Mike Brown has said that he doesn't plan to play Hickson today, that may not totally be true. There is no point in advertising a lineup change during a playoff series. However, thinking that Hickson is a cure-all is flawed in many ways and especially with the notion that "playing small" is the answer for the Cavs.

The biggest problem for the team over the past two games, other than focus, has been defense. The Bulls scoring 104 points a game is unacceptable. This is the worst playoff defense the Cavs have played in years. Playing smaller does not help the defense, the Cavs gave up 29 points in the fourth quarter with that "small" lineup.

When the Cavs played strong in Game 1 it was using their size to their advantage. The Bulls scored just 83 points. Over the last two games, however, the Cavs have not played anywhere near with the same intensity. That may change in Game 4 after getting beat, that is the natural order of things with higher seeds.

Ultimately, the Bulls are at an advantage when the Cavs play small because that is how they want to play. The reason the Cavs made a comeback when playing small was just as much to do with the effort they were giving and not just the player matchups.

• I chose not to play it up in the papers over the last couple of days, however there is no doubt there has been a bit of a wiggle with Shaq. Not talking for two days after being benched down the stretch of a second consecutive game was mildly alarming.

Then yesterday, when he did talk, he said that he wanted to have more of a rhythm and to get more shots. Shaq said:

"I've always been a rhythm player. I'm used to shot, shot, shot, shot, shot. I'm not used to shot, la, la, la, la, la. So I've got to get my rhythm. My shots have been right there, they've been in and out. I wouldn't call it rust."

Well, after seeing him blow several layups and a dunk, I would call it rust. But this is the first time, to my memory, that Shaq has talked about shots this season.

Later in the interview, Shaq praised Brown and Brown has said a goal is to get Shaq more minutes and more involved. So there doesn't seem to be an issue at the moment. However, this is something to be watched.

• I have been writing it all series and will do so again before Game 4. Limiting Rose is essential and the Cavs have some plans for that today. However, the Cavs can survive a strong game from Rose and even one from Noah. X-factor in many Bulls victories is Hinrich, When he shoots well, the Bulls offense is significantly more dynamic. This showed in Game 3. The Cavs need to account for Hinrich with some of the same vigor they show Rose.

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2010/04/cleveland_cavaliers_at_chicago_1.html