Despite a 1-0 series lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Chicago Bulls know Game 2 is vital in the result of this series. What else is vital for the Bulls? Keeping new Cavs starter Tristan Thompson off the backboards.
Back on Halloween night in Chicago, the Bulls fell in overtime to the Cavaliers, 114-108.
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Sure, the Bulls lost Derrick Rose to an ankle injury earlier in the contest, but one of the major issues for the Bulls in the six-point loss was the play of Cavs forward Tristan Thompson.
Thompson, a solid role player in Cleveland’s frontcourt rotation, pulled down 13 rebounds in 36 minutes of action for the Cavs.
Not only did Thompson pull the second-most boards in the game by any player, 12(!) of the 13 rebounds were on the offensive glass for Cleveland.
On Wednesday afternoon, it was announced that Thompson would get the call to start at power forward for the Cavs in a “must-win” Game 2 for Cleveland.
"My job is pretty simple, just come out and play hard." - @RealTristan13#CavsTV [VIDEO]: http://t.co/5rHR77647F pic.twitter.com/7ZjamhN2u2
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 6, 2015
In the five games (including Monday’s 99-92 win for the Bulls) that the Bulls and Cavs have played against one another, Thompson is averaging 9.25 rebounds per game.
When Thompson and Cleveland center Timofey Mozgov were on the floor together for 15 minutes in Game 1, the Cavs outscored the Bulls by 14 points, grabbed five more rebounds than the Bulls and held the Bulls to 44 percent shooting, as opposed to the 52.7 percent shooting rate the Bulls shot at when just one or both of them were on the floor.
It’s easier said than done, but the Bulls have to keep Thompson off the window by any means necessary on Wednesday night.
One way the Bulls can keep Thompson from making the hustle plays that he’s torched the Bulls with this season: Rebounding as a collective unit.
Five Bull players had at least five rebounds on Monday night, led by Pau Gasol‘s double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds. The starting backcourt of Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler each pulled down five rebounds each.
Thompson did have eight rebounds in 37 minutes on Monday, but he and Mozgov weren’t able to stay on the floor long together, due to Mozgov’s inability to defend against the pick-and-rolls the Bulls ran all night long.
Another way to keep Thompson off the boards: Giving Joakim Noah the challenge of guarding Thompson’s every move.
If you watched Game 1, you know that Noah looked like a complete shell of himself. In 29 minutes, Noah didn’t score, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out four assists, but committed four turnovers in the win.
Putting Noah on Thompson once again could be a way to motivate last year’s defensive player of the year to get going in this series. When he’s healthy, Noah’s one of the feistiest and rugged players in the game.
His activity could keep Thompson’s rebounding opportunities low and give the Bulls a great shot at a 2-0 series lead.
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