Cavs flip switch to drop Bulls 87 - 101

Dec 4, 2009

Now that the reshaped Cleveland Cavaliers seem to have found their rhythm, the problem no longer seems to be chemistry. Boredom would be more like it. At least, that appeared to be the case during their 101-87 victory over Chicago on Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena. How else do you explain the fact the Cavs (14-5) could barely dribble and walk at the same time during the first half, then suddenly regrouped enough to not commit one turnover during the second? Or that LeBron James and his teammates spent more time during the final two quarters working on their dance moves than moves to the basket? Such is life when you have won 11 of 13, and have enough depth and talent to turn it on when you want against whom you want. Right now, that's the 2009-10 Cavs.

It's good to see the way we're playing as of late," James said. "We're playing with a sense of urgency. We're showing that we're a veteran ball club that knows how to win." What was a tight game through three quarters turned into a Harlem Globetrotters-like laugher quickly. For the Cavs, the final 20 minutes consisted of alley-oop dunks, wraparound passes, and even an exchange between James and the opposing bench (specifically, Bulls forward Joakim Noah) that was so strange it almost seemed staged. That came in the fourth quarter, with James at the free-throw line. Noah was sitting nearby and yelled something in the direction of James, who stepped off the line and walked toward Noah to respond. But it ended up being no big deal, as James was whistled for a technical and order was quickly restored. "There's a fine line between saying something and being disrespectful," James said, adding that it was "nothing personal." Actually, taking it personally is exactly what Noah did when it came to the Cavs' occasional celebrations and dancing on the sidelines. James, however, said the Cavs are just having fun and enjoying the ride while they play their best basketball of the season. "It's nothing against the Bulls, it's nothing against Joakim," he insisted.

As for the actual game, the Cavs received contributions from everywhere in winning their sixth straight at home and exacting revenge on one of two teams to have beaten them at the 'Q' this season. James finished with game-highs of 23 points and 11 assists. Mo Williams added 15 points, and reserve guard Daniel Gibson did the same, quite possibly playing his best game of the season and adding another weapon to a team that is getting more loaded by the day. "The one thing I'm seeing from [Gibson] is the ability to score in a lot of different ways," beamed Cavs coach Mike Brown. "The book on him is to run him off his shot, and now he's getting to the rim, finishing in traffic or shooting his runner. With him doing that, he can become a tough cover coming off the bench." The turning point came when the Cavs broke open a 54-54 deadlock with 7:00 left in the third by going on a 30-9 run. They did it mostly with unrelenting defense and, of course, by taking care of the basketball. "In the first half, we were getting stops, we just couldn't get any shots because of the [11] turnovers," James said. "We made more of a conscious effort to take care of the ball." Meanwhile, the Bulls (7-10) have been reeling lately, having lost six of seven and showing signs of frustration along the way.

"It just stinks to lose, that's the toughest thing," Noah said. "We've got to find a way to win games because this losing thing is just not a good look. It's not what anybody in this locker room expected. This is really frustrating." Rookie forward Taj Gibson paced the Bulls with 14 points and a game-high 13 boards. Derrick Rose added 13 points, but made just 5-for-16 from the field. "We slipped defensively and that's what always happens," Rose said. "We were that close, and we're supposed to close games out, no matter what."

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