Recap: Bulls 105, Cavs 102 (or, windows open and windows close)

A cruelty of life is that you never know how long a window will be open. A daily subterfuge of dreaming about the future and all the possibilities plays out in your mind to pacify it throughout the day. Eventually you become genuinely invested in seeing your premonitions come to life in a three dimensional world according to the script in your head. It’s true for all relationships, and also true in sports.

In 2011, the question for the Chicago Bulls wasn’t when they’d win a title, but how many? Derrick Rose was just 22 and already had an MVP to collect dust on his mantle, the youngest winner of the league’s top individual superlative. He was flanked by a championship caliber coach, who was married to the game, and would gladly sacrifice sleep to draw up ways to stop a pick and roll. Rose had the ideal supporting cast of low usage guys who were were nightmares on the defensive end with their ability to guard multiple positions. Much like a newly expired romance, the Bulls history was rewritten in an instant.

Rose’s injuries piled up, former coach and maniac Tom Thibodeau rode that supporting cast to surprising results but burned them out in the process. The front office didn’t do him any favors, trading away Luol Deng to the Cavs in a cash dump. As the whispers of unhappiness and the frustrations surrounding Rose’s injuries increased, the Bulls fired Thibodeau after losing to the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals last May. In the preseason, many assumed that the fresh voice and fancy offensive concepts from coach Fred Hoiberg could push to the Bulls to a new stratosphere, if they maintained their defensive intensity and unity that the team showed for half a decade. Alas, it didn’t work out. The baggage of their own history was already solidified, and the new voice from a new coach was rejected by the team. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Perhaps it could have worked out with Hoiberg had the roster’s soil not been so entangled by Thibodeau’s roots.

1st Quarter

The Cavs scored the game’s first points on their third possession, as LeBron hit a step back from the the wing over Mirotic. On the following Cavs possession, LeBron utilized his size advantage over Jimmy Butler on the block to drain a turn around fadeaway. If Thibodeau were still the coach of the Bulls, he would have busted a blood vessel after witnessing the lack of court awareness on a broken play by Jimmy Butler. The Cavs recovered the ball off an errant Butler outlet pass, and Butler never picked up J.R. Smith, who drilled a wide-open three from the wing.

At the midway point of the quarter the Cavs pushed the lead to 11, as Kyrie drew the defense to the left side of the court and waited for a trailing Kevin Love on the wing. Love converted, giving him the last 10 points for the Cavs. When he’s got some air under his shot, he’s vicious.

LeBron punches home the SLAM, through the lens of our slo-mo #PhantomCam! #NBAonABChttps://t.co/hKAqBRFMeY

— NBA (@NBA) April 10, 2016

The Bulls cut the Cavs’ lead after converting on three straight possessions, but their momentum was halted as J.R. Smith found a tailing LeBron for a Kraken-esque jam, after the defense had collapsed on Smith driving left. On the following Cavs possession, Smith extended the Cavs’ “Diff” to double digits by burying a deep three from the left wing courtesy of a LeBron dime.

LOVE TO LEBRON 🔥🔥 #CavsNation #Cavs #Bulls #NBA https://t.co/xHm2J3yZD0

— Cavs Nation (@CavsNationCP) April 10, 2016

LeBron and Love flashed some spooky identical-twin telepathy when Love received the ball in the corner and immediately recognized that Butler was fronting LeBron, leaving the rest of the paint open (Portis was far away defending Frye at the top of the key). In an instant, Love tossed up a perfect alley-oop, and LeBron, well-aware of what was coming his way, Shaq-flushed it home. The Cavs got sloppy with the ball in the closing minutes of the quarter, but they still led after one, 31-27.

2nd Quarter

The Bulls fully erased an 11-point deficit, and tied the ball game at 31 when a Christiano Felicio pick and roll with Aaron Brooks resulted in Felicio driving in for a layup over Timofey Mozgov. The Bulls took the lead on a another Brooks/Felicio pick and roll, as Rose tossed the ball a foot above the rim and Felicio flushed it. (Being a degenerate daily fantasy player, I was surprised I wasn’t more aware of Felicio). The young Brazilian’s off the ball movement was impressive. He beelines straight to the hoop, and he springs off the hardwood like a flea in a fire. In a cruel twist, he was assigned to the Canton Charge earlier in the year. If only the Cavs had an open roster spot…

Early in the second quarter, the Bulls reserves held a 19-2 scoring advantage over the Cavs’ subs. Channing Frye took the lead back with a triple from the top of the key.

LEBRON JAMES. #NBAonABC#CavsBulls BOX: https://t.co/XJIz809Bbn https://t.co/XcSPbuvKy9

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 10, 2016

As the Cavs starters returned, so did the lead. First, Kyrie kissed one off the glass between Gasol and Mirotic. On the next Cavs possession, LeBron kept Mirotic guessing in transition with a crossover, and threw down a two handed jam. LeBron hasn’t looked this spry since he’s been back.

Kyrie Irving drilled the Cavs’ eighth three of the half off a step back from the right wing, as Mirotic picked him up in transition and sagged to avoid getting embarrassed on a dribble drive. Pau Gasol beat LeBron on an up-and-under to cut the Cavs’ lead to one, which prompted Ty Lue to call a TO.

What a finger roll from LeBron! #CavsNation #Cavs #Bulls #NBA https://t.co/2bRzSiL090

— Cavs Nation (@CavsNationCP) April 10, 2016

It sounds strange to say that after watching LeBron James play in a thousand games, that he could still come up with new material. With two minutes remaining in the quarter, he altered his pace from a lazy stroll up the court with the ball to a speed dribble. He blew past Mirotic in transition and as he approached the paint he was met by Rose. He spun in a high-arching finger roll from at least 10 feet away. Wow.

On the following Cavs possession, J.R. Smith actually got a borderline call from the refs. I had reached a point whereby I assume that any questionable call involving Smith will go against him. Dunleavy was called for the foul that Hubie Brown insisted should have been on Smith, and J.R. converted on the continuation and then hit the freebie to push the Cavs lead back to five. At the end of the first half, the good guys held a 54-52 lead.

3rd Quarter

LeBron James’ abuse of Mirotic continued into the second half as he tripled from the left wing with Mirotic playing a step off. On the opposite end of the court, Mirotic pump faked Love off of his feet for a long two. On the following Cavs possession, J.R. Smith converted his 200th three of the season, this time from the right wing, as Thompson dove for a loose ball and tossed it to Smith on the fall. J.R. hit another three from the corner off of a spin and reverse, as Dunleavy tripped over his own feet trying to recover.

Oh my, @kevinlove.#CavsBulls BOX: https://t.co/XJIz809Bbn https://t.co/ctIsBqtMm5

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 10, 2016

There have been so many points during this season that seemed to lack cohesiveness on the court, that we all questioned if the players actually liked being out there with one another. We got to see them come together in celebration after Love crossed over Mirotic from the corner, then drove to rim and dunked on Gasol. If this is the Kevin Love the Cavs are going to have in the playoffs, they are going to be a problem for opponents. If this team consistently taps back into the camaraderie that they displayed in last season’s playoffs, they are going to be an even bigger problem.

Smith canned his fifth three of the game off of some around-the-world ball rotation. LeBron passed from the paint to Love in the corner, Love swung the rock to Delly on the wing, and Delly hit Smith at the top of the key before the defense could adjust.

The Bulls once again cut into the Cavs’ double digit lead off of a pair of threes from Butler and Aaron Brooks. James hit one from the wing, Butler retorted, then James hit a buzzer-beating deep ball from top of the key on the final possession of the half to give the Cavs an 82-79 lead after three.

4th Quarter

Doug McBuckets tied the game at 82, tripling from the wing with a quick catch and shoot over Richard Jefferson. Felicio once against flashed his spryness off the roll as Justin Holiday hit him with a bounce pass for another jam. I’m getting more and more angry that he isn’t a Cav. His body control and court awareness were legitimately impressive.

As LeBron sat, the Bulls slowly built a five point lead through the first four minutes of the quarter. Felicio displayed his agility on the opposite end of the court as he rejected Kyrie from behind on a drive, and it lead to an Aaron Brooks floater. Felicio then hit a driving layup over Love, slithering through the lane.

Kyrie, meanwhile was engaging in his own personal meltdown, as he dribbled his way into three horrific turnovers. On the first two of the quarter, he blatantly refused to use Mozgov’s picks, dribbling back into his own defender and eventually losing the ball. On the third, he dribbled into no less than a triple team in the corner. He was also missing left and right, as he finished 5-17 from the floor. By 5:51 the Bulls had built a 13 point lead spearheaded by Brooks, Felicio, and Holiday.

James subbed in for Delly, at 7:50 and Delly subbed back in for Thompson at 6:19 (I know, it didn’t make any sense to me, either). Delly repaid Lue’s faith by breaking up a two-on-one triggered by yet another turnover. James and Irving missed some chuck-it-up threes. A James freebie and an ENOOOOOURMOUS Delly trey cut the lead to nine.

Trading Js between Rose and James, the Cavs shivered themselves warm out of their cold spell. A J.R. Smith three cut the deficit to six. Then the Cavs’ effort picked up steam in the closing minute, as Love hit a high arching three from the corner off of an inbounds pass. On the next Bulls possession, a LeBron and Love double team on Jimmy Butler in the corner forced him to call a time out. After the break, Butler threw up a desperation three that hit the top of the backboard. LeBron took Butler off the dribble the entire length of the court for a layup to cut the game to a three point deficit.

With eight seconds left, J.R. Smith drew an over the back foul on Felicio. Smith hit the first, then internally missed the second free throw to perfection with a high bounce off of the back of the rim that he boarded himself. He swung the ball to Love, who found a wide open Delly from downtown, but the Deli was closed – as he launched a massively deflating airball.

A ridiculous replay ensued to check who had possession after Kevin Love and Pau Gasol wrestled for an out of bounds play, with Pau clearly pushing Kevin out of bounds. The Bulls got the ball, the Cavs fouled Gasol, he missed one. Down three with 1.8 left on the inbounds, JR Smith got free for a contested 28-footer from the top of the key. Despite clear contact on the arm, it was recorded as a block by Justin Holiday and the shot attempt fell 10 feet short. 105-102, Bulls.

Thoughts

The Cavs have to win one of their next two games against Atlanta or Detroit to clinch the No. 1 seed in the East, or Toronto has to lose one against the Knicks, Sixers, or Nets. The Cavs will probably keep the one seed, and needing the Pacers to lose out, the Bulls will probably not make the playoffs. So we’ve likely seen the last of them this year. Thank God.

Kyrie Irving was a disaster, and his post game comments were accurate.

I was just real [bleep] with the basketball, that’s all. My handle wasn’t crisp. Justin Holiday had great defensive pressure at the top of the key and their defense was extending me out almost at half-court.

Kyrie just needs to run the offense and use the GD screen. Just run the plays as they’re designed and not dribble all over God’s green earth. The 16 turnovers were on everyone. Delly played poorly except for some late defense and his one triple, and the desperate D the Cavs played when they were down big would have put the game away in the second. LeBron, Love, and Smith were awesome (15 combined threes, and 77 combined points). Everyone else was meh or worse. I could write a thousand reasons why this didn’t work, but what’s the point? It won’t matter till the playoffs. See you next year, Chicago.

Adding Frye has given the Cavs another element to their offense. The spacing is so much better. I get that people were salty because Frye was the guy the Cavs got for their beloved Andy. I’ve never eaten a crow, but I question if it’s delicious because it’s a bottom feeder not unlike crab and lobster. If I were to cook a crow, I’d probably braise it.