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 Cavaliers clip Bulls with buzzer-beaters
Chicago Bulls, still surprised him.
"Well, people, I can tell you this, OK," Blatt said. "I've been
doing this a long time, I've never seen that. I've never seen it.
Three like that, in one game."
Those three buzzer-beaters accounted for nine points, with point
guard Kyrie Irving making a turnaround to close the first quarter,
shooting guard J.R. Smith sinking a 41-footer before halftime and
Irving connecting from 52 feet with the shot clock bearing down
midway through the third quarter.
"It was a crazy play," Irving said. "I thought there were 22 seconds
left instead two, and I'm look at (LeBron James) and he's looking at
me and he's like, 'Shoot it.' I'm like, OK, I got to let this thing
go. And, luckily, it went in."
And now, after the third win against the Bulls in four meetings that
gave Cleveland a four-game lead over Chicago with just five games
remaining for each, the Cavaliers will almost certainly go into the
postseason as the Central Division champions and No. 2 seed. That
means, if the Cavaliers and Bulls meet again, that series would
start in Quicken Loans Arena, a place where the Cavaliers have now
won 18 straight. It also means that the Cavaliers can start resting
some players for the playoffs, while Chicago, which has had its
projected starting lineup for only 19 games this season, tries to
hold off Toronto for the third seed.
The Bulls did get double figure scoring from five players Sunday,
and did make a late run, spearheaded by reserve forward Nikola
Mirotic and small forward Mike Dunleavy. But, while Dunleavy led
Chicago with 24 points, Mirotic struggled with his shot overall (3
for 12). Guard Aaron Brooks, filling in for the injured Derrick Rose
and Kirk Hinrich, scored 17, but also had seven of the Bulls' 16
turnovers. Chicago's bench missed 16 of 21 shots in all.
"If we see them down the road, we think we can play with them,"
Dunleavy said.
That sentiment was shared by teammates.
"It would be really, really exciting," center Joakim Noah said. "I
hope it happens."
If it does, they'll need to do a better job on Cleveland's guards.
Meanwhile, Irving (27) and Smith (24) combined for 51 points for
Cleveland, with Smith making seven of his first 10 three-pointers
before finishing 8-of-17, in support of LeBron James' first
triple-double of the season, and 38th of his career. James had 20
points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists, plus three steals.
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"I was just excited about my ability tonight to do multiple things
to help our team win," James said.
He did everything but hit a buzzer-beater.
NOTES: Cavaliers coach David Blatt was asked prior to the game what
the biggest in-game adjustment was compared to coaching in Europe.
"A lot more timeouts," he said. "A lot more stoppages in play." ...
Blatt said he was not surprised by the development of Bulls F Nikola
Mirotic, whom he faced in the 2014 Euroleague final. "Not at all;
matter of fact, I can specifically remember a lot of discussions
with my own staff about him, and telling them all that he was going
to be an outstanding NBA player, and everybody kind of looking at me
sideways about that," Blatt said. ... Cavaliers F Kevin Love
returned to the lineup after missing the win against Miami with back
soreness. This was his 71st appearance of the season, the
fourth-most of his seven-season career, and two behind 2010-11, when
he played 73. ... Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said he was "hopeful"
that PG Derrick Rose, who missed his 20th straight game due to knee
surgery, would be back sometime this week. "Everything's going
according to plan," Thibodeau said, while adding that Rose, who has
been cleared for contact, needs to feel comfortable enough to
return. ... Bulls G Kirk Hinrich missed his second straight game
with a hyperextended knee.
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