CLEVELAND — Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose scored 25 points, Pau Gasol added 21 points and 10 rebounds and the Chicago Bulls beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-92 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Monday night.
The Bulls led by as many as 16 points and never trailed. The Cavs tied the game twice in the third quarter, but the Bulls countered by scoring the next 15 points, leaving the Cavs to play catchup the entire evening.
The Cavs were within 94-90 in the final minute when Chicago guard Jimmy Butler banked in a jump shot over an outstretched center Tristan Thompson, essentially sealing the victory and immediately shifting home-court advantage to the Bulls.
Cavs guard Kyrie Irving scored a game-high 30 points and forward LeBron James had 19 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, but the Cavs lost their first playoff game this postseason– they had swept the Boston Celtics in the first round.
They will be without forward Kevin Love (shoulder) for the rest of the postseason and guard J.R. Smith (suspension) for the first two games of this series. Coach David Blatt kept his starters a secret until minutes before tipoff, ultimately deciding on Iman Shumpert to replace Smith and Mike Miller to replace Love.
Shumpert scored 22 points, but Miller struggled to keep up with Bulls forward Mike Dunleavy, who scored 13 of his 14 points in the first quarter. Dunleavy made all five of his shots (including three 3-pointers) in the quarter and took just one shot the rest of the night.
Similarly, Gasol scored 13 points in the third quarter as he kept running high pick-and-rolls with Rose and the Cavs kept botching the coverage. Gasol was left with wide-open, mid-range jumpers around the perimeter and he buried nearly all of them to slow the Cavs’ momentum after they had tied the game at 53.
Blatt was concerned about the Cavs’ eight-day layoff — and rightfully so. The Cavs trailed by double figures less than six minutes into the game and fell behind by 16 early in the second quarter.
They spent the rest of the quarter digging out of it behind James’ effort and a flurry of slicing, twisting drives to the basket from Irving.
Now they’re fighting just to even the series while the Bulls can take a commanding series lead back to Chicago with one more victory. Game 2 is Wednesday night in Cleveland.
NOTES: F LeBron James broke his self-imposed blackout long enough to call good friend G Chris Paul and congratulate him for a terrific Game 7 performance in the Clippers’ victory against the Spurs. James famously shuts off his phone during the playoffs, but he used his wife’s phone to call Paul. “I told him, ‘Don’t say (anything); you’re not allowed to reply,’” James said. “I told him how amazing he was and how great he was and I hung up on him. I haven’t spoken to him since.” … James finished third in MVP voting and said Stephen Curry’s award was well-deserved. “He’s the catalyst of that whole ship, and I think he’s had an unbelievable season,” James said. “I think it’s great that another kid born in Akron, Ohio, can win an MVP.” … James joked he has been playing against Tom Thibodeau’s defenses for so long he knows the play calls. “He’s faced every possible defense,” Thibodeau said. “You have to keep throwing different things at him. You’ve got to make him work.” … The Bulls are 62-61 in conference semifinal games and 11-12 in semifinal series.