The Chicago Bulls didn’t have the endurance to knock the Cleveland Cavaliers off their unbeaten streak on Monday.
Despite leading by nine points midway through the third quarter, the Bulls dwindled down the stretch to give up a 119-113 loss to allow the Cavaliers to continue on a 12-0 run to open the season.
Here are six takeaways from the loss.
1. The Cavaliers capitalized on the Bulls’ mistakes.
It’s too early in the season for postgame analysis to sound like a broken record, but the Bulls have kept the same flaw on repeat. Turnovers were the deciding factor in yet another loss on Monday as the Bulls handed the Cavaliers a wealth of opportunities in the open court, coughing up 20 giveaways for 35 points.
The Bulls gave up double-digit points off turnovers in every quarter except for the fourth and struggled to contain the ball despite keeping a handle on their fast-break possessions. Coby White committed five of these mistakes while Josh Giddey added four. Every starter turned the ball over at least twice.
Photos: Cleveland Cavaliers 119, Chicago Bulls 113 at the United Center
Entering Monday’s game, the Bulls averaged the seventh-highest volume of turnovers in the league. It’s easy to blame this trend of turnovers on the team’s newfound focus on speed, which can lead to risky decision-making in the open court. But coach Billy Donovan noted after the loss the majority of the Bulls’ turnovers occur in the half court as a result of poorly executed passes or stalled out drives to the rim, reflecting a larger problem for the offense to solve.
2. Donovan Mitchell stole the show.
The Bulls didn’t have an answer for Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell, who scored 36 points to lead Cleveland’s offense in style — drilling seven 3-pointers, dodging between defenders as the Bulls defense reacted in slow motion, twisting a full 360 degrees to flip the ball into the basket on a second-chance opportunity in the second quarter.
Zach LaVine continued to shoulder the toughest perimeter defensive assignment on the roster, a trend that has been a challenge for the Bulls defense. After the loss, LaVine joked that he tried to “just give (Mitchell) some effort” as the guard sliced apart the defense.
3. Zach LaVine delivered fruitless late-game heroics.
Without DeMar DeRozan, the Bulls need a new anchor in the fourth quarter — and LaVine filled that role naturally against the Cavaliers. LaVine ripped off nine straight points to keep the Bulls afloat midway through the final quarter, contorting to get to the rim and powering through fouls for and-one opportunities.
LaVine scored 11 of the Bulls’ 21 points in the final quarter. But his effort wasn’t enough to outweigh the early mistakes by the Bulls — or a lack of scoring from the rest of the roster. Nikola Vučević contributed five points in the fourth quarter and Ayo Dosunmu hit a 3-pointer early in the quarter, but the rest of the lineup faded away in the final minutes of regulation.
Forward Patrick Williams missed a transition 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one point with 47 seconds remaining — which the Cavaliers countered with a layup from Darius Garland on the other end — and deflated the final attempts at edging back into the lead.
4. Coby White got hot from downtown.
White continued a high-volume season of long-range shooting against the Cavaliers, going 5-for-11 from behind the arc as he chases an average 3-point shooting clip above 40% this season.
This volume isn’t new for White. He scored five or more 3-pointers in 13 games last season. After only 11 games, Monday marked his fifth game this season to reach that threshold. White sank his fifth 3-pointer of the loss with 8:30 left in the third quarter, but lost his touch for the rest of the game, going 0-for-2 from deep as he fell into the same scoring funk as the rest of the offense.
5. Ayo Dosunmu bumped Josh Giddey in the closing rotation.
Donovan opted to close with Dosunmu instead of Giddey for the second consecutive game, marking a slight shift in the team’s approach to the guard position in clutch situations. On paper, Giddey had a good offensive outing — 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting and a team-high seven assists. But in context, the guard struggled.
The Cavaliers opted for the lightest of defense on Giddey in the opening quarter, allowing the guard to drive to the rim and fire off 3-pointers with minimal resistance. His scoring receded the moment the Cavaliers began to seriously close out to him, managing only six points in the second half. And Giddey’s defense continues to be a liability, leading Donovan to prefer Dosunmu in close-game situations.
6. The bench offered little help.
The Bulls starters carried the bulk of the offense against the Cavaliers, receiving only 16 points from the bench — 10 of which were supplied by Dosunmu.
The bench was somewhat limited due to two absences. Lonzo Ball sat out another game with a sprained right wrist and Jalen Smith stayed home with an illness. After a medical reevaluation on Thursday night, Ball was able to remove his wrist splint and will return to dribbling on Tuesday. Smith is day-to-day and Donovan noted the same illness has been moving through the roster, which is typical of this time of year.
But even with both players unavailable, the Bulls are used to receiving more help from their secondary rotations. Outside of Dosunmu, the main core of the secondary unit — Dalen Terry, Julian Phillips — took only five shots.
Donovan opted not to play rookie Matas Buzelis in any serious rotation, giving him one 3-minute, 44-second stint on the court in the loss.
Originally Published:
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