What in the world is happening to Cleveland? The Cavs crashed to their second consecutive defeat with a humiliating 113-94 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday. The Cavs had no answer for Blake Griffin who scored 13 points and dished out a career-high 11 assists. It was another disappointing result for the Cavs who have lost back-to-back games for the first time as defending NBA champions.
The Cavs will look to get their season back on track when they face the Chicago Bulls tonight. For Cleveland to grab the much-needed victory, it needs to improve on its play on the defensive end. In their last two losses, opponents have scored an average of 115.5 points. The effort was clearly lacking on Thursday for the Cavaliers as they were outrebounded by the Clippers, 47-36. To make matters worse for head coach Tyronn Lue, his team also committed a whopping 18 turnovers.
The onus now is on LeBron James to stabilize the Cleveland offense. He leads the Cavs in assists this season with 9.3 dimes a game. James looked out of sorts, though, in the loss to the Clips, posting just 16 points and five assists. He will need to step it up against a Chicago defense that’s allowing just 98.8 points per game this season, eighth-lowest in the NBA. To unlock that stingy D, it’s crucial for the Cavaliers that they knock down their outside shots against Chicago. Cleveland struggled with the long ball on Thursday, going just 9-of-24 from deep against Los Angeles. That’s the first time this season that the Cavs failed to make 10 3-pointers in a game.
The Cavaliers are 4-5-1 ATS in their last 10 road games.
The Chicago Bulls were sent crashing back to earth on Wednesday as they suffered a stinging 96-90 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Bulls had difficulty stopping Julius Randle who scored 13 points and grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds. It was Randle’s layup with 45.1 seconds left that effectively sealed the Bulls’ fate. With the defeat, the Bulls have now lost two of their last three games.
The Bulls will look to return to winning ways when they lock horns with the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers tonight. For the Bulls to accomplish that feat, they will need to get a much better performance from main gunner Jimmy Butler. He struggled mightily in the loss to the Lakers, scoring just 22 points on a woeful 4-of-18 shooting from the field. That’s quite a disappointment considering Butler shot 67 percent from the field (26 points) in their previous game against Philadelphia.
Another guy who’s expected to contribute tonight is Dwyane Wade. Motivation won’t be lacking for the three-time NBA champion who will be facing his former teammate LeBron James for the first time in a Bulls uniform. Friday’s showdown will be the 28th overall meeting between the perennial All-Stars with James having the win advantage (15-12). Wade can take comfort in the fact, however, that he has held his own against the four-time MVP. In their previous 27 meetings, Wade is averaging 26.9 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists.
The Bulls are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 home games.
