Chicago Bulls made it three in a row by defeating the slumping Cleveland Cavaliers, 88-83 at Quicken Loans Arena in presence of more than 20,000 fans. It was Cavaliers sixth consecutive defeat.
Top performers
Derrick Rose carried the load for Bulls, posting a game-high 29 points, 8 assists, and 4 rebounds. Joakim Noah provided 13 points and 14 rebounds.
Antawn Jamison did all he could for Cavaliers and scored team-high 21 points in the defeat Anderson Varejao played well, contributed 17 points, and grabbed 12 rebounds. Daniel Gibson added 14 points, 4 assists, and 8 rebounds for Cavaliers.
Game story
Cleveland coach Byron Scott shuffled his line-up in an effort to stop the skid, but the Cavaliers fell short.
Both teams started ice cold, but Bulls managed to make it to the free throw line early, to help build a quick lead. In the first quarter, the Bulls played a sloppy game, but slowly began to build their lead, taking a 21-15 lead into the second.
Both teams played the second with same velocity scoring 20 points apiece. The Bulls headed the first half with 6-point lead, 41-35.
In the third quarter, the Cavaliers fought fantastically hard to make the score a respectable one.
The Cavaliers got it going offensively, and slowly built an 8-point lead at the end of third, scoring 33 points, all while holding Bulls to 19 points only.
Mo Williams drove the length of the court and drained the buzzer-beater at the end of the third.
Derrick Rose had a three-point play that put Chicago ahead for good with 39.2 seconds to play. Rose made 11 off his 22 shots, including two big lay-ups in the final minute that helped the Bulls to their third consecutive win.
Quotable
"If we play hard like that every night, I can live with that,” said Cavaliers coach Byron Scott.
"We will take any win we can get. We did not play our best and they played very well,” said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau.
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