Final Score: Cleveland Cavaliers, hampered by poor offense, lose to Chicago Bulls 98-94

The Cleveland Cavaliers, with a 98-94 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night in Cleveland, are currently out of the Eastern Conference’s top-six.

In the loss, which dropped the Cavs to 41-33 on the season, was arguably their worst offensive performance of the season. As a team, the Cavs shot 41% from the field and 23% from three. Even Darius Garland — who finished with a team-high 27 points while playing 44 minutes — was off, finishing 1-7 from three and 9-22 from the field.

It was particularly rough going for the Cavs in the first half, when whey shot 13-42 from the field (31%) and 1-18 on three-pointers (5.6%). The Cavs trailed by as many as 19 in the game. Cleveland’s 35-point first half output ties their lowest scoring half of the entire 2021-22 season.

The only real bright spot for the Cavs was a comeback that started in the third quarter and extended in the fourth. Cleveland was able to get within 4 points at 87-83 with 3:44 to play. The Bulls, though, then ripped off an 8-0 run over the next minute-plus to put the game out of reach for good.

With the loss — and a Toronto Raptors win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday — the Cavs are now the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. They are also two games back of the fifth-seeded Bulls. If the season ended today, Cleveland would host the Brooklyn Nets in the play-in tournament.

Up next: The Cavs are back in action Monday at home against the Orlando Magic. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.