Chicago Bulls cruise to a 95-85 win over Cleveland Cavaliers: NBA Recap
All five starters for Chicago made it into double digit scoring figures as the Bulls dropped the Cleveland Cavaliers 95-85 here at the Quicken Loans Arena, Wednesday night.
Marco Belinelli led the Bulls with 23 points; Luol Deng collected 22 points while Joakim Noah posted a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds for the night.
"It was good for me to get going early, and my teammates looked to find me, which was good," Belinelli said post game. "I was just going to be aggressive and keep trying my best."
Anderson Varejao did what he does best as he collected 15 rebounds for the tenth straight game, also completing his 10th consecutive double-double by collecting 11 points. Donald Sloan supported him well adding 14 points
off the bench.
Belinelli nailed a three pointer followed by a deuce in the early goings of the first period to put the Bulls up 10-4. Tristan Thompson made a slam dunk to make it 8-12 for the Cavaliers before the Bulls sprang into action and
went for a 7-0 burst that pushed them to 19-8. Chicago were dominant in the first quarter and closed the period with a 6-0 run to push their advantage to 27-11.
The Bulls kept up the good work and Noah tipped one in early in the period that had them leading 33-18. Later in the period, a Nazr Mohammed jumper extended their advantage to 39-23 before Cleveland started slashing the deficit.
The Cavs closed the period with an 8-0 run that left them trailing 35-45 at halftime.
Chicago put the brakes on Cavs' charge early and maintained a reasonable lead for most of the third period. Belinelli sank a three pointer early in the period that put Bulls up 48-37. But Cleveland were not to be silenced that
easily, Daniel Gibson nailed a three pointer to slash the deficit.
The effort countered immediately by a three pointer by Luol Deng to maintain Bulls' advantage on 54-42. Later on, a Kirk Hinrich jump shot cemented Chicago authority on 60-46 before the Cavaliers came back with an 11-2 run to make
it a 5 point game at 59-64. However, Bulls ended the period on a high note to head into the final quarter leading 72-63.
Tyler Zeller's hook shot early in fourth period made it 66-77 for Cleveland. A 6-0 quick burst pushed the Bulls to 83-66 but the Cavaliers responded with an 8-0 run to slash the deficit down to 74-83 and stay in the game. However,
whenever it looked like that the Cavaliers might chase the Bulls, the opposite happened, as another 7-0 run put them up 90-74 with 4:41 on the regulation. It was a smooth journey after that as the Bulls cruised to a 95-85 victory in the end.
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