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Alonzo Gee's buzzer beating three mercilessly pulled your favorite five within 25 points to end the first half. Yes, your Friday night entertainment largely was over just minutes after it had started this Friday evening but with the season young and exciting still it was refreshing to see so many Cavaliers fans stick with the Wine and Gold all 48 minutes.
Your final score from Quicken Loans Arena was Chicago 115, Cleveland 86.
Cavs Leaders: Points: Kyrie Irving 15; Rebounds: Anderson Varejao, Tristan Thompson, Samardo Samuels 5; Assists: Donald Sloan 5
Analysis:
The thing that stuck out to me was the lineup which was on the floor to open the second period. Byron Scott trotted out Donald Sloan, Daniel Gibson, C.J. Miles, Luke Walton's Back and Samardo Samuels as his team was already down 16. As you can expect things got out of hand before they got better and the Bulls stretched out their huge lead even more.
It was awfully disappointing to see that punch lacking lineup handed the task of attempting to gain significant ground on the Bulls. Perhaps a more staggered approach to substituting the starters could have changed things but more likely the signs that this simply was the Bulls' night were too strong.
The first quarter gave Cavalier fans an embarrassing array of highlights as the team committed numerous unforced turnovers and even allowed Carlos Boozer to hammer down on them multiple times.
The Cavaliers bench deserved fair criticism after that poor showing in the first half. The aforementioned five along with rookie Tyler Zeller played a combined 39 minutes by halftime and totaled 3 points (on 1-11 shooting) and 8 fouls. Welp.
Most of all I must give credit to the Bulls for limiting Anderson Varejao to just four rebounds in the half. Coming off a 14 board half in the second half against Washington it was unusual to see Andy held in check a bit.
Dion Waiters also was a non-factor at best for the gold at the break.
The third quarter saw the Cavaliers play the Bulls essentially even but Jimmy Butler hit a shot with 1.5 seconds left in the quarter to give the Bulls a 27 point lead with 12 to play. Anderson Varejao came alive with some fancy footwork in the paint to dump in some sweet lay ins while Alonzo Gee and Richard Hamilton also were very strong for their respective teams.
All in all this performance was nothing better than pitiful as the Bulls notched a scintillating 34 (Ray!) assists on the night. Carlos Boozer and Nate Robinson ran rampant on the Cavaliers all night long as this game wasn't ever in doubt.
With an upcoming six-game, 11-day road trip next on the fixture list it's frustrating to send the Cavaliers off with such a defensive lack of focus.
All 13 players who suited up tonight ended up getting some clock and Walton was limited to just four minutes!
Fear the Sword's Player of the Game
Um, Kyrie Irving. It's hard to give really anyone much of a pat on the back tonight but I thought Kyrie outplayed Alonzo Gee so he'll take the honors for the night.
What's Next
The Cavaliers embark on the long road trip I mentioned earlier beginning right away tomorrow night in Milwaukee to face Jon Leuer's former club. The tip off is at 8:30 PM Eastern. Mama, there goes that man.