The Chicago Bulls snatched a must-win game competing against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night, keeping their playoff hopes alive even if only for one more night.
Knowing the Bulls were shorthanded with E’Twaun Moore and Taj Gibson sitting out with injuries, the squad entered the game fighting for their lives. As it stood, the team held no margin for error as they competed in the first of their final three games. The Bulls sit on the outside looking in with the Indiana Pacers all but having clinched the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
In a 105-102 victory, the Bulls were led by stellar performances off the bench including the likes of Cristiano Felicio, Aaron Brooks and Justin Holiday, to name a few. Coach Fred Hoiberg placed a lot of trust in his young players, giving them opportunities to create stops and make buckets in pivotal moments.
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Most notably, the Bulls’ relied less on Pau Gasol down the stretch, giving Felicio an opportunity to close out a majority of the fourth quarter. Although the rookie didn’t play much earlier in the season, Hoiberg told The Chicago Tribune he thinks Felicio is surpassing early expectations, especially in games like those played on Saturday night.
“You could argue he was the player of the game,” he said of Felicio, who switched from soccer to basketball in his native Brazil because he didn’t want to switch to goalie per a coach’s request. “I thought his pick-and-roll defense was really good.”
In 23 minutes off the bench, the rookie out of Brazil racked up 16 points and 5 rebounds. That doesn’t mean the Cavaliers didn’t give the Bulls their share of problems throughout the night.
The ability of the Bulls’ backcourt to roll to the basket and get in the paint was met well by the last season’s Eastern Conference Champions. All-Star Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose struggled to find a rhythm in the offense early on, shooting poorly from the field and giving the Cavaliers reason to have confidence playing down the stretch.
Cleveland led by as many as 11 points in Chicago with forward Kevin Love effectively and efficiently getting off to good start, compared to earlier this season when he struggled to define his role as the team’s third option. He would finish the game with a double-double by pairing together 20 points with 13 rebounds.
Additionally, LeBron James facilitated the basketball well throughout the game getting his teammates involved and putting them in a position to bully the Bulls in the paint. James closed out the game by logging 33 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
With the Bulls’ starting lineup sidelined, the bench provided a source of energy in the second quarter. Between Doug McDermott’s clutch shooting and Holiday’s defensive smarts, the team rallied back from behind.
Seeing the Cavaliers’ bench get outworked Saturday night allowed the Bulls to gain the momentum needed to mount a comeback. By halftime, the Cavaliers’ lead dwindled down to one-possession game after Nikola Mirotic sunk a three-pointer leaving only seconds on the shot clock.
Butler and Rose came up clutch in the second half providing the Bulls’ starting five with some much-needed offense. The backcourt for the Bulls combined for a total of 31 points.
Gasol and Bobby Portis worked hard on the glass to prevent the Cavaliers from getting second-chance points. Those opportunities posed a concern for Chicago early on but as the second-half got underway, the fate of the Bulls’ playoff lives remains untold.
Gasol told The Chicago Tribune he thinks the Bulls could’ve won many more games had they come out and played with more urgency earlier this season but as he explained, things didn’t always go according to plan.
“There have been times where we’ve dropped games that we should have never lost, especially at home against certain teams,” he said. “Those are the times that guys don’t realize how big a price you can pay at the end of the year.”
“There have been times where we’ve dropped games that we should have never lost, especially at home against certain teams,” he said. “Those are the times that guys don’t realize how big a price you can pay at the end of the year.”
While Cavaliers mounted a late-game charge, the Bulls held them off when veteran guard J.R. Smith strategically missed the second of two free throws only to seal his team’s fate.
In the end, Chicago pulled out enough defensive stops to come away with the win. The squad will need to have good outings against the New Orleans Pelicans and Philadelphia 76ers in order to give themselves the best shot at snatching the eighth seed. Although the future of the Bulls rests in the hands of the Indiana Pacers as they look to face-off against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, Chicago holds the tiebreaker should the two teams finish with the same record.