2015 Playoffs: (2) Cleveland vs. (3) Chicago

[Moz]

Thibs should've figured out already that Pau should be on the floor more (whenever he sits him, the Cavs are making their runs and I fucking hate it when he benched him in the 2nd quarter) since you'll not get a lot of scoring from Butler because he'll be chasing Lebron all through out... I'm worried that the bench will not be a factor, again, in this series... Perhaps they can safely put Mirotic on the floor whenever Mike Miller or James Jones is in, although I'm satisfied with what MDJ is doing, just to have him some playing time perhaps to help them rebound and space out the floor... I don't know what to say about Snell though, Hinrich is doing a good job on Irving that I prefer him to be Rose' sub instead of Brooks...

[mp3]

Solid game by the Rose and the Bulls I really didn't see that outcome but I guess the lost of Kevin Love is going to hurt alot more than I originally thought.

[Jeffx]

Nice win for the Bulls to open the series - liked the two man game with Rose and Gasol, Rose was making some good passes once his shot stopped falling - but yeah, I remember the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals. They need to head back to Chicago up 2-0 to really have a chance. They weathered going cold in Game 1, but a returning J.R. Smith is going to make that difficult in Game 3 and beyond. Shumpert almost made them pay in this one.

I TOLD mfers, watch out for Chicago if Rose is healthy. With their defense, they can cause Cleveland lots of problems. Plus, aside from Lebron, who on that team is playoff-battle-tested?

I want Jimmy Butler on the Knicks - we haven't had cats with his heart and toughness since the 90s. I f-n love his game. That last shot he hit was crazy.

[air gordon]

Jimmy buckets to reinsdorf" See this bag? Fill it up with money"

Since the kool aid effects have subsided, time to over analyze

Thibs should've figured out already that Pau should be on the floor more (whenever he sits him, the Cavs are making their runs and I fucking hate it when he benched him in the 2nd quarter)

Pau cant handle the minutes load. He looked refreshed last nite. I think you point the finger instead at Noah for being mediocre on offense

Thankfully it is Gibson in there to close games. Honestly he should be paying more minutes than Noah.

I hope Niko can get more minutes in the series. He is a mismatch for the cavs reserves but I am not sure thibs will give him a chance

And I hope Snell next game gets a shot. Whether its guarding irving or l james. My heart goes out to Butler playing all those minutes and still being able to hit the dagger

And irving is one bad mo fo.

[Mandich]

LeBron guarding Rose just like old times. Too bad the self proclaimed "king" didn't regain his best player in the world title yet.

What's the status on the Rose arm/shoulder injury ?

[I Hate Mondays]

He says the injury it's minor, the staff says it's minor and that he was feeling great after the game. It looked bad, but it wasn't that bad afterall.

[allnickstaken]

I like how Bulls played. I think they have been smart.
Would like to see more of Snell or Mirotic.

GO BULLS!

[Moz]

I think you point the finger instead at Noah for being mediocre on offense

As I've said before, you can't expect to get anything from him offensively other than handing out assists and getting putbacks... I would rather point the finger on Thibs for not trusting the bench to fill up the void (if there are any) on offense... I would keep Noah in the frontline since Gasol can't guard Mozgov but I agree with you that Taj should be playing more minutes than him at this moment....

I'm relieved that Gasol is more involved in their offense compared to the prior series... Butler can now solely concentrate on shadowing Lebron and be just a facilitator on offense rather than being Mr. Do It All again while playing all those heavy minutes...

[air gordon]

And as I have said before, if you are 7ft and cannot score on someone noticeably smaller than you, let alone make an open layup or make free throws (1 for his last 10), you become a big liability to the team. It is not too much to ask for basic basketball competency.

The problem he creates is magnified more when l James is allowed to rest on defense or a chump like miller or jones steals minutes at the pf

The Bulls are "Noah-ing" the cavs on defense. They are cheating off of both mozgov and "Christian" Thompson and crowding the lane

I don't enjoy tearing apart Noah but it is the truth. He is probably playing through injury and his defense is not at an elite level. He is a liability out there. Maybe against the lesser teams the Bulls can play through this but against the legit teams it is asking a lot

Taj getting more minutes is a step in the right direction.

Aside from l James going bonkers tonite, curious to see the adjustments Blatt makes tonite!

[Andrew]

Bulls aren't shooting well, the Cavs are just raining threes. Ten Bulls turnovers to three by the Cavs. As a result, the score at halftime isn't surprising.

[Alpha_]

Series tied. 1-1

[Kevin]

Oh yeah.
History says Chicago will lose in 5 games.

On all of the three series Chicago and LeBron's Cavaliers went face to face, Chicago always wins the first game then loses the remaining four. *According to gametime*

[Andrew]

It's a familiar scenario, no doubt. At least this time they're heading home for Games 3 and 4, and have a stronger team than they did on those previous occasions.

[air gordon]

Didn't watch the game and it seems like that was a good thing

I won't geek it out box score style since it was a blowout. What happened?

[I Hate Mondays]

Let me get to the part you are interested in. Niko played 7 minutes, garbage time, even if the Bulls were down by a lot of points all game. Thibs will get his ass fired so bad...I can't understand him anymore

[Moz]

The Cavs defended that pick and pop so poof... Pau's gone again... I don't know why MDJ's not sticking to James Jones when everybody's on Lebron already... It's fucking exhausting to watch Jones hit it over and over (and over?) again while the Bulls' regulars are having a brickfest... I thought they will finally make the game close when they made a run after Shumpert went down but that end up quickly because they stop attacking and instead relied on shooting jumpers again... I'm tired of saying that the starters are gassed-out and I'm tired of hearing them on post game interviews saying "We need to adjust this shit/We have to be more whatever/I'm blaming myself for not playing well and not helping my teammates do this shit" ... They sound like their heads up their arses as if they're always under estimating their opponents... And what the fuck is Pau doing hugging Varejao, as if the game is already finished, when he knows that half of his teammates hate the guy...

[air gordon]

Lol sounds like the jekyll and hyde bulls team we know

[Kevin]

What the fuck?

A technical for saying "Yeah, yeah!" after a posterizer?

smh.

[Moz]

What a way to end the 1-4 trend (or curse if you're into drama) and Rose redeeming himself from that awful first half... Finally some Mirotic sighting and he contributed well as expected although he fouls a lot (perhaps that's the reason of his lack of playing time)... I hope Pau is just having the Thompson flu and he'll be ready for Game 4... That guy did it on the offensive boards what James Jones did with his treys on the last game...

[Kevin]

Rose....

[NovU]

Bulls shot extremely poorly but stole the game. LoL, look at rebounding difference and nice job at least getting a shot off instead of turning it over.

It looks like Bulls vs Hawks in the Finals. Olynyk is the MVP of this series while the Hawks got lucky with broken wrist Wall.

[I Hate Mondays]

To quote the commentary team at some point "I love that they are not penalyzing good defence". That pretty much sums up the game for me. Glad that wasn't a Rocket - Clips game. Half of the game would've consisted of FTA.

[Mandich]

Cavs need a healthy Irving.

Boy do James and Noah hate each other. Goes back to his first stint with the Cavs.

I'm glad for Rose. He had horrible luck. Good for him.

The fact he stole his MVP from LeBron and now made a game winning shot against his team makes it even more fun.

[air gordon]

Yessir!

[NovU]

Rose critics are reborn as fans. The Bulls with Rose are pretty good. Remember during the season when we were mouthing how done he and the Bulls are, especially in the beginning of the season and when he got injured again.

It's just nice to see Rose having this kind of impact throughout the playoffs. He's redeeming himself for that big contract he signed a few years ago. It may turn out all worthy if the Bulls get to the Finals.