Live Thread: Cavs @ Bulls

LeBron James lost a grueling six game Finals, with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love both unavailable due to injury. In the following weeks, he sat at a pool with Love and decided it would be best for both of them if he re-signed with the Cavs. He then cringed when J.R. Smith opted out of his contract and came back for slightly less money. He even lobbied for the Cavs to re-sign Tristan Thompson using social media. His lobbying was as passive aggressive as a significant other saying, “sure, you can watch this preseason game because it makes you happy, even though it’s completely pointless.” And, he sat on a banana boat with Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade. The King did all of those things in just four short months and has to be feeling ready for opening night.

After just 48 minutes of preseason action, and one anti-inflammatory back injection, the King returns with his men to play real NBA basketball against the Chicago Bulls in under eight hours. The game tips off at 8:00 PM in the United Center, and can be seen on TNT.

The Bulls will be trotting out Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Tony Snell, Nikola Mirotic, and Pau Gasol. Joakim Noah will be their super in shape sixth man, and Mike Dunleavy will warm the bench after having back surgery this offseason. Rose will be wearing a face mask.

The Cavs are starting Mo Williams, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Timofey Mozgov. Both Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert will not be available for this game.

Staff predictions:

Ben Werth: Cavs 110, Bulls 100. Kevin Love starts his All-Star season by humiliating the Bulls overrated frontline. Chicago already misses Thibs.

Nate Smith: Cavs 106, Bulls 102. Bulls try to prove something. Kevin Love proves they can’t defend like they did under Thibs.

EvilGenius:  Cavs 97, Bulls 91. LeBron’s sore back outlasts D-Rose’s broken face as Cavs start out strong on their quest for a championship.

Mike Schreiner: Bulls 101, Cavs 96. Lack of time playing together in the preseason hurts them, but it’s nothing to worry about.

Robert Attenweiler: Cavs 92, Bulls 86. The rested and mostly reunited Cavs give Chicago a taste of its own defensive-minded medicine, allowing their offense plenty of time to shake the rust off. And there is definitely rust to be shaken.

David Wood: Cavs 95, Bulls 88. Love demands a double team at the elbow, and the Cavs are able to hit their open 3s. Matthew Dellavedova accidentally hits D. Rose in the face and the game gets scrappy.

Stuff to watch for this game:

1. Is Tristan Thompson in basketball shape? He just reported to training camp this past Friday after signing a deal worth $82 million over five years.

2. Will LeBron be on a minutes restriction? It’s never good to get shots in your back.

3. How many times does Love touch the ball in the paint? He had 2.9 elbow touches and 4 post touches a game last season. The prior season in Minnesota he had 11.6 elbow touches and 7.4 post touches a night. The team has said they want him to be more than a perimeter threat this season.

4. Is Chicago going to be an offensive minded team this year? Fred Hoiberg is an offensive minded coach, but it will be interesting to see what the Bulls do if they can’t run their offensive sets against the Cavs. Do they keep trying to or do they resort to playing lockdown defense?

5. Can Tony Snell be the quasi LeBron stopper still? During the regular season last year, Snell slowed James dramatically. James must have mistaken Tony for Kawhi Leonard.

Let us know your predictions for the game below.