Chicago Bulls Weekly: Tom Thibodeau Not Taking The Bait On Coaching Future
By Phil Watson
Bulls 98, Cleveland Cavaliers 87: Wednesday, Jan. 22 (Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland)
Chicago arrived off back-to-back wins while the Cavaliers came in off a loss to the Mavericks on Martin Luther King Day. Boozer did not dress because of a sore calf and this would also be the first time Luol Deng faced the Bulls in his career after being traded to Cleveland earlier in the month.
Chicago got off to a solid start, leading 23-17 at the quarter break. D.J. Augustin had eight points, Mike Dunleavy added six and Joakim Noah yanked down five rebounds. Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao lead the Cavaliers with four points apiece.
Cleveland rebounded to take a 44-43 halftime lead. Kyrie Irving exploded for 15 points in the quarter, hitting 5-of-6 from deep. Taj Gibson, starting in place of Boozer, scored nine points and Noah had five more rebounds for the Bulls.
The Cavs went cold in the third quarter, hitting just 6-of-20, and Chicago surged to a 71-62 lead at the quarter break. Gibson scored 12 points in the period and Augustin added nine. Deng led the Cavs with seven points in the quarter.
The Bulls put the game away in the fourth quarter. After Cleveland got as close as three points at 84-81 with 4:11 to go, the Bulls ran off seven straight points to seal it, capped by an Augustin 3-ball with 2:24 remaining, part of a 10-point period for Augustin, who also had four assists in the quarter. Dunleavy added eight points. Dion Waiters scored 13 points for the Cavs and Irving added six.
Overall, Augustin had 27 points for the second straight game to go with seven assists, Gibson matched his career-high with 26 points and blocked three shots, Dunleavy scored 22 points and Jimmy Butler added 10. Noah had 18 rebounds. Irving led the Cavaliers with 26 points and five assists, Waiters had 15 points, Deng scored 11 on just 2-of-11 shooting and Varejao had 10 points, 11 rebounds and five dimes. Jarrett Jack also assisted on five baskets.
Chicago was 37-for-70 (52.9 percent) overall, 10-for-21 (47.6 percent) from 3-point range and 14-for-18 (77.8 percent) at the foul line. Cleveland was 33-for-88 (37.5 percent), 8-for-19 (42.1 percent) and 13-for-18 (72.2 percent).
The Bulls had a 43-41 edge on the boards, but the Cavs led in the paint 34-30, on second-chance opportunities 19-6 and on the break 13-12. Chicago turned it over 11 times, but Cleveland got just seven points; the Cavaliers’ nine giveaways turned into 13 Bulls points.