Bulls Defeat Cavaliers, End 10-Game Losing Streak
The Bulls were desperate to end their 10-game losing streak no matter what it took. Fortunately for them, there’s one team in the NBA worse than them: the injury-ravaged Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s who they played Monday. No Kevin Love, J.R. Smith or several other players meant a relatively easy 104–88 Bulls victory, even though it ended up hurting them in the lottery standings.
This hardly qualified as a game between two professional basketball teams. At times, the offense was ugly, the ball wasn’t moved around very cleanly, and bad decisions were obvious. Still, the Bulls executed better and got higher-percentage chances, shooting 47.4 percent from the field as opposed to Cleveland’s 35.6 percent. At one point, Neil Funk told the viewing audience that it seemed the Cavaliers were “trying to wish the ball in.”
Zach LaVine had himself an afternoon with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field. He hardly had any moments where he looked uncomfortable, and anyone on the cusp of being a star should have games like this against the bottom feeder of the NBA. The Cavaliers allowed him familiar spacing, too.
Bobby Portis had a nice day off the bench with 15 points, including three 3-pointers and even one technical foul after making one of those 3s. Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn each scored 13, with Dunn coming within an assist of a double-double. Jabari Parker got all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter, six coming on a pair of 3s early in the period and the remaining four on free throws.
Whatever you think about the Bulls right now, the young players needed a win in the worst way as part of their development. You can preach about needing the first or second pick in the draft all you want, but the road to get there shouldn’t come at their expense. With so many concerns that Jim Boylen is causing everyone to move backwards, wins can and should give them confidence to raise their games. They might even go back to what they were before any development was impeded, at least if you’re name isn’t Wendell Carter Jr.
Yeah, it’s a shame that Carter’s season most likely ended the way it did. He was one of the few areas of consistency for the Bulls this season, and everyone relied on him to be the best “man in the middle” both ways. Instead, his dreams of playing in the Rising Stars Challenge are dead, and who knows if this will affect his chances of being on the All-Rookie Team? Here’s hoping he comes back from that thumb injury stronger than ever, and there’s every reason to believe he will because of what he’s shown.
The Bulls will look to make it two consecutive wins when they welcome the Atlanta Hawks to the United Center on Wednesday. It should be worth everyone’s time if only for the opportunity to watch Trae Young. But a win can’t be ruled out, either. After all, Atlanta is a lucky opponent this season.
