The Bank and The Burn: Cavs vs. Bulls Game 3 Behind The Box Score

The Cleveland Cavaliers were off their offensive game in Game 3. With Kyrie Irving’s bad wheel and LeBron James battling turnover issues, not even J.R. Smith’s fourth quarter sharp-shooting could pull the Cavaliers through this game. In the end, Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose executed in the fourth quarter, and Rose’s long, banked three-pointer over the outstretched arm of Tristan Thompson at the buzzer gave the Bulls the 99-96 win and the series lead.

Cleveland Cavaliers 96
Chicago Bulls 99

Box Score

54-39, 44-28, 18-7 and 18-9 – The Bulls bounced back to dominate the rebounding and interior in every facet. They outrebounded the Cavaliers by 15 overall. They scored 44 points in the paint compared to Cleveland’s 28. They doubled up Cavaliers on the offensive boards. They also had 18 second chance points compared to Cleveland’s seven. This was startling considering Pau Gasol, the team’s biggest body, missed most of the second half. Joakim Noah led the charge with 11 rebounds, nine of which came in the first quarter.

11-of-38 – The Cavaliers driving dynamic duo of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving managed to shoot just 29% together. That would seem like certain death in a playoff series without Kevin Love, but they hung until the end despite all of that. Irving was 3-for-13, without an assist and only two free throw attempts, slowed by the officials allowing a physical game at both ends to take place as well as an ankle he turned in the first quarter. In a wildly off display, Irving missed all nine shots that he took inside of the arc, unheard of for the All-Star point guard. Irving admitted that he has been battling a foot injury since Game 2 of the Boston series, and that, on Friday night, he was mostly a “decoy.”

James shot 8-of-25 for his 27 points, and he added 14 assists (seven of those in the first quarter). However, LeBron’s jumpshot largely failed him once more, hitting just 1-of-7 three point shots and turning the ball over seven times in a nightmarish reenactment of some of his regular-season demons against these Bulls with multiple defenders being thrown at him in a halfcourt set.

32, 8-of-16 – What did keep the Cavaliers afloat? Just like in Game 2, it was the supporting cast. The three-man bench of James Jones, J.R. Smith, and Matthew Dellavedova combined for eight threes and 32 points. Smith returned from his two-game suspension for punching Jae Crowder after a 12-day layoff and was clutch for the Cavaliers late, tying the game at 96 coming off of a high screen and hitting a contested trey. Coach David Blatt ultimately decided to start Shumpert, a game-time decision with a groin injury, over Smith, which was the original plan for the team prior to Smith being placed in the starting lineup as the Cavs took off while Shumpert rehabbed from his shoulder injury.

42-18 – The Cavs had their advantage from the three-point arc 14-6 in makes as they got multiple makes from Shumpert and Irving in addition to the three bench players listed above.

Plus-19 – After being used sparingly in the first two games, Coach Tom Thibodeau was forced into using forward Nikola MIrotic. The rookie rewarded his team handsomely with 12 points and 8 rebounds along with a +19 on the floor, by far the largest in this game. In the second quarter, Mirotic and Mike Dunleavy combined to score 21 of the team’s 29 points. Once again, it was a burst of a few quick strikes from Dunleavy that gave Chicago a lift as the Cavaliers were unable to stay attached to him. If Gasol’s status for Game 4 is in question, look no further than Mirotic for minutes at the four spot in a smaller lineup along with Taj Gibson. If that’s the case, then the Cavaliers absolutely must make them pay for going small on the boards. They didn’t do it tonight, and it ultimately cost them.

30-7-7 – Derrick Rose was far from perfect in this game, but he did enough to will his team to victory. His shooting was fairly average at 10-for-26, and that game-winning three was his only make from long range on the night. But, when Rose chose not to take the hero mid-rangers, he got to the hole and to the line. After a giant goose-egg in trips to the line spanning his last 14 quarters of action going all the way back to the MIlwaukee series, Rose went 9-of-10 from the line over the last 22 minutes of the game.

23 of 25 – It was a two-man show down the stretch for Chicago with Rose and Jimmy Butler scoring 23 of the team’s 25 fourth quarter points. Butler shot 3-of-4 in the quarter and 7-of-17 overall as he was able to stay in the game despite picking up his fifth foul while guarding James. Butler had 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 steals. He was able to take J.R. Smith with a double move and isolation underneath the basket with 33.9 seconds to give the Bulls a one-point lead. He was also guarding James as LeBron skidded a layup across the front of the rim with 24 seconds to play.

1 – Tony Brothers officiated in this game. He last officiated for the Cavs in Game 4 against Boston, the rough and tumble environment that ultimately led to Love’s injury and Smith’s suspension. This game was a lot of the same early, and then it tightened up a bit as the game went on. The wine and gold did a nice job of denying Chicago at the rim and blocking shots, but they struggled to grab the defensive rebounds. There were a couple of dust-ups in this one, with LeBron James and Joakim Noah receiving technical fouls for a verbal exchange started by James as he drove into the heart of the Chicago defense and slammed one on top of Noah. James later said that the exchange got “very disrespectful.”

Aaron Brooks also received a technical for an extra strong shove of Dellavedova on a high screen.

36 – That’s about the number of hours between Games 3 and 4. With Pau Gasol’s hamstring injury that forced him out of the game, Derrick Rose’s creaky knees that don’t respond well to heavy minutes and minimal rest, and now Irving’s ankle, there’s plenty of quick healing that needs to take place on both sides.

I feel sick as a Cavs fan about Rose hitting that shot. The Cavaliers did everything they could to defend the shot properly. With three seconds left, they forced a pass out high, they hedged on the screen without leaving Gibson the opportunity to glide to the basket for a dunk, and Thompson went out beyond the three-point arc to extend and challenge Rose’s three. The Bulls point merely put enough strength into the shot to give it a chance, and his prayer was answered. As difficult as it is, you tip your cap and head to Game 4.

The objective is still within reach: split in Chicago to re-split the series and take back homecourt. With both Smith and Shumpert back now, the Cavaliers have to look to get more out of their two All-Stars. They know it, the Bulls know it, and the fans know it.