Recap: Cleveland 128, Chicago 96 (or, Ice Cold Lovely Spidas)

What a difference two days (and a lackadaisical Bulls team) makes. The Wine and Gold were a little slow out of the gate, getting down eight early before the bench came in and built a 19 point lead in the early second. Kevin Love’s hot shooting and gluey fingers combined with Donovan Mitchell’s MVP play to build that lead, and the Cavs controlled the game the rest of the way. Chicago briefly cut the lead to single digits early in the third, but every time they did, Cleveland responded with a three, a timely Mitchell drive or a Robin Lopez hook shot. The Cavalanche crescendoed when the Cavs went up 22 with about 5 minutes left in the fourth; DeMar DeRozen took a rage ejection (second technical) and the zoo crew put the Bulls out of their misery.

The catalysts to the quick turnaround were Kevin Love, Cedi Osman, and Ro-Lo who entered in the mid first. Kevin Love canned three triples in 90 seconds, Robin Lopez dropped in a couple hook shots, and Levert ended the first with an iso trey to put Cleveland up nine and they never looked back. Kevin Love was ridiculous: 15/14/4 line in just 23 minutes. He was also a stalwart on defense: not just with the rebounds, but also repeatedly stoning guys around the rim (at one point in the third, he stopped three straight shots). Kev even drew two charges and finished 5-6 from the field and +27 for the game.

Austin Carr has taken to calling Robin Robin “Captain Hook.” The Bulls had no answer for the right handed hook Lopez unleashed on their bench bigs, and the big man didn’t miss a shot till late. He went 6-7 from the field to finish with 12 and +19. Speaking of plus/minus, Cedi Osman was an insane +41 in 25 minutes, with 15/2/4 line, joining six Cavs in double figures, and a part of the hot shooting Cavs’ squad that canned 16-27 triples on the night. It’s hard to lose when you shoot like that. Much of that +41 line revolved around the fact that Cedi was subbing for Isaac Okoro who struggled filling in on the starting lineup for Darius Garland.

Something seems broken with the kid over the last two contests. Ice’s head wasn’t in the game offensively Saturday. He posted just 2/1/0 in 27 minutes and was the only Cav in the negative with a -4. But if you’re keeping track, that means he posted a net rating of -36. Yikes. Okoro’s pair of turnovers turnovers were of the “not paying attention” variety: stepping on the sideline while catching the ball in the corner. The dude seemed absolutely uninterested in effective offensive habits and didn’t want to have the ball anywhere near him. Often the ball left his hands as soon as he touched it. The bad habits on his jump shot recurred and produced two clankers from the corners. While Okoro did have a thunderous slam in transition, he also had another transition opportunity snuffed about by a prancy Eurostep that was swatted out of the park. While his offense was putrid, Ice’s D was solid, and he definitely contributed to DeMar DeRozan’s rage quit. Good lord though, is he hard to watch on O, and I’m sure Cavs fans all over the internet are sounding off. I’m sure Dean Wade who played well in garbage time will get a crack at the starting lineup if Gararland sits again.

Okoro’s foibles aside, this was a dominating win by the Cavs, and the Bulls did not seem to play with much physicality (a welcome change from the overly physical Raptors, who keep raking dudes in the eye). Leading that domination was Donovan Mitchell, the picture of an absolute superstar coming into his prime. Good lord was Donovan unstoppable. It wasn’t just the ability to isolate and bounce off guys and get a basket, orchestrating the entire offense most of the time he was on the floor, or the one handed rebound where he snatched the ball out of the air like a grapefruit. Donovan Mitchell played like he was the best player on the floor who wanted the ball in every big moment and was going to put his stamp on every minute he was on the floor. He’s the best Cavalier player since the possible greatest player of all time graced these floors.

Mitchell has a lightning quick release on his three ball and his hands are so strong he can fire it up like pulling a string. If you go under a screen on him, you’ve already lost and he can step back into a triple whenever he wants. If you chase him around that screen, he can get all the way to the bucket, or pull up and hit an unstoppable mid-ranger. He can see the whole floor and makes the easy pass and the fancy pass too (check out the oop to Allen below). He rolls through the trees like a GD bowling ball too.

The Cavs are in great hands, and the Bulls seem not. Zach LaVine is uninterested in defense, and with the absence of Lonzo Ball, is burdened with being the primary initiator and scorer. Ayo Dosunmu is a capable fill-in on D, but is a little tentative to be a lead guard in today’s NBA. With Patrick Williams looking like “just a guy,” Ball’s absence in the starting lineup makes the Bulls’ starting lineup easy to defend by the Cavs’ long-armed front court, while Vuc and LaVine play defense like halloween blow-up ghosts. Zach and Vuc combined for 39/7/7 on 29 shots, and joined the frustrated DeRozan as the only Bulls in double figures. Most critical was the Cavs 48-35 rebounding advantage. Let’s hope that activity and superiority continues tonight.