CLEVELAND — History will show the Chicago Bulls beat the Cavaliers 101-98 Thursday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
Anyone who watched the game on TNT or was among the 20,562 fans in attendance, however, will be quick to vouch for the fact the Cavaliers beat themselves.
Up 17 in the third period, Cleveland (42-34) did one thing wrong after another and found a way to lose to the Bulls (29-45), who are counting down the days until their season ends.
“It is frustrating,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “We were up 17 — up 17 late. Chicago just fought and fought and fought.”
The Cavaliers did not score a point in the final 3:34 while making one boneheaded play after another.
It started when 6-foot-9 Ben Wallace missed a dunk with 2:20 to go. Then Delonte West threw the ball away attempting to pass to LeBron James on the wing. Then West fouled Ben Gordon, a 91.4 percent shooter from the line, on a 3-point attempt. Then James shot an air ball on a
28-footer while attempting to beat the shot clock.
Cleveland was still in the game, however, because the Bulls weren’t playing any smarter. Chicago, in fact, won despite not making a field goal over the final 4:20.
“You’ve got to give that team credit,” Brown said. “The way Chicago played defense, they deserved to win. It’s a tough loss for us.”
After Gordon’s three free throws put the Bulls up 99-98, Cleveland’s Wally Szczerbiak had a 20-footer rim in and out with 50 seconds to go.
Given another chance after Gordon missed a three, James drove left and tried to twist back and shoot a short right-handed jumper, but missed with seven seconds left while being challenged by Joakim Noah.
“I was shocked (no foul was called),” Brown said. “He was aggressive and it looked like he got hit on the arm. He didn’t get the call.”
Two more Gordon free throws put the Bulls up three with 3.4 ticks on the clock, but Cleveland got a great look when James leaped high to catch an inbounds pass and, without landing, threw the ball to a wide-open Daniel Gibson on the right wing. Gibson’s three, however, clanged off the rim, ending the Cavaliers’ modest two-game winning streak.
“We told him to pop out just in case Bron got doubled,” Brown said. “We knew nobody would be there (guarding him) and he got a great look.”
James led the Cavaliers with 33 points, but scored just one point in the final quarter after experiencing back spasms at the end of the third period. The leading scorer in the NBA in the fourth quarter, James was 0-of-5 from the field and 1-of-2 at the line against the Bulls.
“They were loading up on LeBron and you’ve got to knock down shots,” Brown said. “When you aren’t knocking down shots, it makes it easier to load up on LeBron.”
Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 23 points for the Cavaliers, but sat for five minutes during the team’s dismal 13-point fourth quarter, when Cleveland was 6-of-23 from the field. Ilgauskas played only 28 minutes overall on a night when he was dominating the smaller Bulls inside.
Former Cavalier Larry Hughes had a great game for the Bulls, finishing with 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting, eight rebounds and nine assists. He also had five turnovers. Gordon had 24 points off the bench and fellow reserve Andres Nocioni added 15, a total matched by starting small forward Luol Deng. Former Cleveland power forward Drew Gooden did not play for Chicago due to a strained abdominal muscle.
“Give Larry Hughes a ton of credit for playing the game the right way,” Brown said. “The same with Ben Gordon.”
Cleveland was up 17 in the third period and cruising, but had its customary lapse and allowed Chicago to go on a 16-4 run and pull within five late in the quarter.
The Bulls are a tough team to watch, as they have no low-post presence and are prone to taking stupid shots, but on this night they went in, as Chicago shot a blistering .535 from the field (38-of-71).
“Larry Hughes had a big third quarter (15 points), and that’s when the separation didn’t occur,” Brown said. “When he gets hot, as we all know, he’s a tough cover.”
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.

NEXT UP

WHO: Cleveland vs. Orlando
WHEN: Saturday, 3 p.m.
WHERE: The Q
TV/RADIO: FSN Ohio, Channel 43, ESPN; WEOL 930-AM, WMMS 100.7-FM

 

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