| 27 April 2010
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Cleveland Cavaliers 96, Chicago Bulls 94
Watching the close-out game between two teams on seemingly opposite ends of the spectrum is supposed to teach you a lot about where these teams are and where they’re headed.
For the Chicago Bulls, they’ve now had two straight first round exits under Vinny Del Negro. It’s not exactly a knock on him either. They’ve drawn two very tough first round opponents the last two years and simply not had enough to overcome that. This time against the Cavs, they were still grooming a future superstar in Derrick Rose without the proper help to allow him to truly test LeBron James. The Bulls fought and fought valiantly in this series aside from the Game Four blowout in Chicago.
The Bulls showed that they have a future All-Star big man in Joakim Noah and a potential crunch time killer in Derrick Rose. Both of those guys played extremely well throughout this series. Luol Deng stepped up in the final game of this series and helped keep LeBron under 20 points for the game. The Bulls were opportunistic off of defensive stops and turnovers forced and found a way to make Cleveland pay for it. But they also showed that they have significant holes that need to be addressed in the off-season when they have a ton of cap space. They need outside shooting to flank the penetration of Rose. They also need a low post scorer to match with Joakim Noah, who excels in the mid-to-high post. Chicago has a decent young core that seems to crave competition and big stage moments.
For the Cleveland Cavaliers, it’s pretty easy to see where they’re headed. They’re on to the second round of the playoffs in which they’ll face off against the Boston Celtics for the second time in three years. They have every trick you could possibly need. They can play big by throwing Shaq, Varejao and Jamison together with LeBron and Delonte. They can go small with a myriad of wings and athletic bigs in the middle. They can go all rebounding or all defense or all three-point shooting. And on the right day, those all happen with one lineup.
The Cavs are not just built for the regular season anymore. They can adapt to all scenarios, no matter who the playoff opponent is. They got away with a lot of poor play against the Bulls because they’re just a lot deeper and more talented than Chicago. They can’t do that in the next round and beyond. They have to rebound and beat the other team on the boards. They have to protect the paint at all times and not have lapses. They have to close out better on shooters because they’re defensive rotations will be tested from here on out.
They’re fully capable of doing this. They just have to be disciplined enough to do it.
In Game Five, Antawn Jamison, Delonte West and Shaquille O’Neal just did enough to make up for the uncharacteristically low scoring night from LeBron and the typical disappearing through large stretches of the playoffs performance by Mo Williams. Jamison was a finesse force while Delonte provided the disruptive force on the perimeter. Shaq took the liberties that the refs were calling fouls inside to use that to his advantage.
They were barely able to hold off a Bulls team that received 31 points from Derrick Rose and 26 from Luol Deng. The problem for the Bulls was they couldn’t knock down jumpers, couldn’t score inside and had nobody step up to help out with the scoring load outside of Rose and Deng. Now they’re headed into the off-season to find a franchise player to go along their budding point guard.
Why The Cavs Won This Game
While the defense did a good job of protecting the paint and forcing bad outside shots by the Bulls, the Cavs did their best job by moving the ball and making the extra pass on offense. Overall, they assisted on 23 of the 34 made baskets because LeBron, Mo and Delonte were all threading the needle and setting up teammates for good scoring chances.
Why The Bulls Lost This Game
They made the big mistake of not tanking in the 2002-2003 season enough to land LeBron James on their team. It was really one of the most egregious miscalculations that this franchise did in respect to winning this series.
Looking Ahead To The Next Round For Cleveland
Saturday, the series against the Celtics kicks off and the big news leading up to that will be the status of LeBron James’ elbow. It’s hard to take James seriously here because he always seems to play up any sort of injury or hit taken during a game. This way, he can “persevere” through the pain and attempt more iconic and heroic moments to add to his legacy. For some reason, he shot a free throw left-handed to end this game. He claims the right elbow was numb like when you hit your funny bone. I still can’t figure out why that would make you decide to shoot a free throw with your off-hand. I’m sure the Cavs fans will defend him with tales of his elbow nearly coming off in a horrible snowmobile accident or something. Let the excuse making and over-analyzing a non-injury begin!
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