Chicago Bulls Flex Depth in Game 1 Win Over Cleveland Cavs

We are in for a battle in this Eastern Conference semifinal series. Even though the score was at times lopsided, it was great fun to watch LeBron James go up against the healthy Chicago Bulls on Monday night. It would have been preferable for Kevin Love to be fresh as well for this series, but the basketball gods (and their servant Kelly Olynyk) decided it would not be so. As a result, the Bulls won 99-92 and will look to make this series 2-0 by the time they go back to the United Center.

Chicago never trailed in this one, and they displayed the experience and savvy of a team that has been there before. The Cavs, on the other hand, are largely inexperienced other than LeBron and some other bench players, but we will have to see if any of their younger guys have the guts to step up when it matters later in this series.

So what did things look like statistically? It was a mixed bag for both teams, but the Bulls got quality contributions from their starters and bench players.

Derrick Rose appeared fantastic and aggressive from the opening tip; he finished with 25 points, five assists and five rebounds. Jimmy Butler exhausted himself defensively in 44 minutes of action while largely checking James, but he still managed to record 20 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. LeBron ended up with a pedestrian (for him) 19 points and six turnovers, and although he notched 15 rebounds and nine assists, it was not quite enough for the Cavs. That is as much as you can expect against a future Hall of Famer like James, and the Bulls came out ready to play. It also helped Chicago that they got eight points from Taj Gibson, six points from Kirk Hinrich and five points from Aaron Brooks.

“We’re playing against a great team,” Rose said to TNT’s Rachel Nichols. “When you’re playing in these type of games, you’ve just got to make sure you’re focused, make sure you are together, and make sure you are having fun. And that’s what we tried to do tonight.”

The PG hurt his shoulder at one point near the game’s end; however, it should not have any impact on Game 2. Rose looked eager to prove his playoff worth, and a win against LeBron will silence a lot of the haters.

More from Pippen Ain't Easy