The Cleveland Cavaliers look lost. And making matters worse, it appears the Chicago Bulls might have finally found themselves.
With a stellar all-around effort befitting their preseason status as title contenders, the Bulls beat the Cavaliers 99-92 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The national takeaway from Chicago’s win will likely be the play of Derrick Rose. He scored 25 points and dished five assists on Monday, thriving as shooter and passer via pick-and-roll and making an array of difficult jumpers. Rose was indeed very good against the Cavaliers, but his gaudy point total belies crucial context – he shot 11-of-26 from the field. If Cleveland can force the former MVP into more shots than points as this series continues, it should feel good about its chances.
Assuming David Blatt’s team can also clean up defensive mistakes and construct a workable playing rotation, of course.
The Bulls made 24 of their 39 uncontested shots in Game 1, taking full advantage of Cavaliers lineups that were uncomfortable playing together. Pau Gasol made a staggering eight of nine wide open attempts while feasting on “pops” following ball-screens and absent weak-side rotations.
Conventional wisdom said the absence of Kevin Love – not to mention Anderson Varejao – against a team with the talented size of Chicago would be Cleveland’s undoing. But Tom Thibodeau’s club merely won the rebounding battle as opposed to dominating it, grabbing 51.9 percent of available caroms. What hurt the Cavaliers far more than a collective lack of length and girth was simple miscommunication.
And that was never more evident than when Blatt’s makeshift starting unit of Kyrie Irving, Iman Shumpert, Mike Miller, LeBron James, and Timofey Mozgov shared the floor. That quintet was outscored by 16 total points in its 10 minutes of court-time, allowing the Bulls 55.6 percent shooting overall and a scorching 8-of-9 from three-point range.
Mistakes like this one were all too commonplace for that group specifically, but also Cleveland in general.
[protected-iframe id=”6e1b7e2e74a98164037ddb1b8140265d-60970621-45855480″ info=”https://gfycat.com/ifr/BlondDistantChameleon” width=”650″ height=”350″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”]
Don’t expect to see tonight’s starting five again – it was flat-out brutal to begin the first and second halves.
But limiting or entirely erasing that lineup won’t solve the Cavs’ defensive woes. Some labors on that end are to be expected after losing two starters; defense is about continuity and comfort as much as it is talent, and the wine-and-gold are lacking the former attributes at the moment sans Love and J.R. Smith. They’ll no doubt improve with film study and additional time on the practice floor, but it stands to reason Cleveland might never reach its regular season defensive apex for the playoffs’ remainder.
Rose poured in 25 points, Gasol scored 21, and Jimmy Butler added 20 of his own. The Cavaliers shot just 7-of-26 from three-point range, and played a unit that might never see the floor again.
And here’s the scary thing for Chicago: The home team was a typical LeBron shooting night away from winning this game anyway.
The King made just nine of 22 field goal attempts en route to his 19 points, connecting on 3-of-8 uncontested tries in the process. He also committed six turnovers and mostly abandoned an early effort to play from the post as the game went on. Do we really believe he’ll be similarly substandard the rest of the way?
James can’t be if Cleveland wants a chance at the NBA Finals. The Bulls are suddenly playing well at just the right time, yet still clearly have another level to reach. And while Rose may fall victim to the pitfalls of one day’s rest before Game 2, the Cavs shouldn’t be counting on a nightly 30 points from Irving, either.
1-0, Chicago. And though a single victory is never enough to glean a concrete assessment on a series’ end, Cleveland has almost as much reason for worry as their counterparts do reason for optimism. But adjustments loom, and so does consistent play from a four-time MVP befitting that exalted status.
Game 2 is Wednesday.
