CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cleveland Cavaliers’ playoff hopes were hit again Saturday.
Two nights after allowing the Toronto Raptors to catch up in the playoff race, the Cavs lost to the fifth-placed Chicago Bulls 98-94.
Battered Chicago, who had lost five of their previous six, went into the night with a narrow one-game lead over Cleveland. It was an opportunity for the Cavs to gain the ground they needed, stay in the top 6 — one of the guaranteed playoff positions — and even in the season series. Instead, the Cavs have fallen from the top 6 in the Eastern Conference to seventh place — one of four undesired tournament play-in spots.
You can attribute their terrible start to the offensive end.
By the end of the first half, the cool Cavs had just 35 points, their lowest total in a half this season. At the break they were 18 points behind.
“It wasn’t aggressive enough,” Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff said. “We allowed them to keep pushing, pushing, pushing and at no point in that first half did we stand our ground and say enough is enough and push back.”
Cleveland started struggling in the second half. Before the third quarter, in-arena announcer Ahmaad Crump implored fans to forget the first half. The home side had 24 minutes to erase those negative vibes – and avoid a third straight loss. They almost did.
Around the 10-minute mark, the Cavs cut the lead to single digits. It was a two possession game with 8:39 remaining. Then Chicago’s lead, which had temporarily grown to 19 in the second half, was down to just three minutes from time as the sell-out crowd came alive. All the Cavs had to do was finish strong.
They couldn’t finish – the story of their season.
After climbing all the way up to 2nd place in the east thanks to a stunning start, that slide in the second half caused them to fall five positions and slide into a spot they were trying to avoid.
injuries. defensive regression. Not enough offensive firepower. Long breaks in the game – and in the season. It all played a part.
“These are all instructive moments for us. We have to be realistic through the frustrations and disappointments,” Bickerstaff said. “We learned from half to half. But in that first half we fell into such a hole that we had to be perfect all the way. We’ve made the adjustment and that’s learning for us. We just have to keep doing that.”
All-star point guard Darius Garland led Saturday with a game-high 28 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter, with 9-of-22 shots and 1-of-7 from 3-point range. Garland had a chance to make it a possession game in the final seconds at the free-throw line. But Garland made only one of those three attempts and the Bulls held on.
Caris LeVert, drafted into the starting lineup in hopes of putting him in the starting lineup before the postseason, finished the game with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting with five rebounds and three assists. LeVert scored nine of those points in the fourth quarter. Lauri Markkanen, the former Bull, had 14 points and nine rebounds before a late foul.
The Bulls put on an even scoring performance, with all five of their starters in double figures. Zach LaVine had a team high of 25 points. DeMar DeRozan chipped in at 20. Nikola Vucevic added 16.
“You know, and you’ve read the time, most games are made out of a broken heart because you understand what that feels like, and then you have to figure it out and learn from it,” Bickerstaff said. “The ups and downs of it, but reality is what reality is. We have young people trying to find out, and you’ll never find out until you’re in those positions. I’m proud of our boys that it wasn’t the whole game. You didn’t need the whole game to figure it out. They realized what they had to do at halftime and then they went out and did it. It was too big a hole to get over in the end.”
Saturday’s loss doesn’t just hurt Cleveland’s overall record. It cost them a direct tiebreak shot with Chicago — when it counts.
The Cavs are now two games behind Chicago in fifth place and one game behind Toronto in sixth place.
Your room for error is gone. Destiny is no longer in their hands.
good company
Kevin Love’s 3-pointer late in the third quarter got him 1,000 with the Cavaliers. Love and LeBron James are the only players in franchise history to have reached that number.
help coming?
All-Star Center Jarrett Allen missed his 10th straight game because of a broken middle finger on his left hand. Anyone who still wears a bandage and splint on his finger continues to do better and has had enough pain that he can participate in some basketball activities.
wall of honour
During halftime, the four newest members of the Cavaliers Wall of Honor received their rings and were honored during a special ceremony. After a touching video tribute, injured guard Collin Sexton and basketball operations president Koby Altman presented the rings to World B. Free, Gordon Gund, Campy Russell and Lenny Wilkens.
Next
The Cavs will continue their homestand against the Orlando Magic on Monday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m
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