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 James sprained his left ankle in Sunday’s game but won’t miss any
time while point guard Kyrie Irving continues to be hampered by
injuries – first a sore right foot and then being diagnosed on
Monday with tendinitis in his left knee. Irving plans to play
despite being an inferior shadow of himself while the Bulls will
likely be without power forward Pau Gasol (hamstring) for the second
consecutive contest. Chicago missed a big opportunity to take a 3-1
lead when it struggled in the fourth quarter and Cleveland rallied
for the victory. “We just got to be a lot smarter with the lead,”
Bulls forward Taj Gibson told reporters. “Going into the fourth we
had a good margin. We just blew it.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE BULLS: Chicago led by 11 points late in the third quarter
of Game 4 before falling apart on the offensive end and letting the
game get away. “Just too many duds for offensive possessions,”
forward Mike Dunleavy told reporters. “We’ve had issues with that
all year. Especially here in the playoffs, our ball movement has
been slowing us down, and we kind of get stagnant.” One guy thriving
is Rose, who has scored 30 or more points in back-to-back games and
is averaging 25 points in the series.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS: Irving is 5-for-23 shooting over the last two
games, and his 30-point performance in Game 1 seems like it happened
ages ago. “I’d rather give 30 percent, 40 percent rather than give
none at all,” Irving told reporters. “I just literally can’t do it.
I can’t sit on the bench and be hurt and be OK with that. And still,
I still know I can be effective.” James expressed surprise that he
was able to finish Game 4 – a contest that concluded with him
overruling coach David Blatt’s plan to have him in-bound the ball on
the play and instead receiving the ball and knocking down the
decisive shot.
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BUZZER BEATERS
1. James is 2-for-19 from 3-point range in the series.
2. Chicago SG Jimmy Butler is averaging 19.3 points in the series
but hasn’t scored more than 20.
3. Cleveland SG Iman Shumpert (groin) is 4-of-17 shooting over the
past two games.
PREDICTION: Cavaliers 107, Bulls 98
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