Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Luol Deng scored 15 points and helped to deny
LeBron James on a last-second drive to the hoop as the Chicago Bulls edged
Cleveland, 86-85, at Quicken Loans Arena.
Derrick Rose added 14 points and 11 assists, while John Salmons also scored 14
for the Bulls, who posted their second straight victory. Taj Gibson ended with
11 points and seven boards. Joakim Noah, who also converged on James in the
final crucial Cavs offensive play, pulled down 11 rebounds to go with seven
points.
"It is good that we are getting some stops when we need to," said Bulls coach
Vinny Del Negro. "We need to make some more shots to be more effective and
score a few more points but that will come. It was an excellent win for us and
I am happy for the guys. I was happy more with our energy, our approach and
our emphasis the final five to six minutes of the game being able to make
plays."
James had 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists, but was miffed that no
foul was called after he drove to the hoop, but lost the ball out of bounds
with 0.2 seconds left. Shaquille O'Neal chipped in 14 points, 10 boards and
five blocks for the Cavaliers, who have already lost twice at home this
season, to match the total from all of 2008-09.
Anderson Varejao notched 12 points and 13 rebounds for Cleveland, which had a
three-game winning streak broken. Anthony Parker and Mo Williams both scored
11, but Williams missed a couple of crucial shots down the stretch.
"We have a lot of resolve," said O'Neal. "In the three games we have lost, we
pretty much beat ourselves by what we're not doing. Once we master that, then
we'll be fine."
Brad Miller's layup expanded Chicago's lead to 84-78 with 2:35 remaining, but
the Cavs were able to trim the deficit as Williams and James each hit two foul
shots.
Rose's floating jumper with 1:44 left moved the Bulls back to a four-point
lead, but James sank a three-ball with 1:33 to go.
Both teams then failed on opportunities. Salmons' layup was blocked by James,
but Williams then missed on a three-point try. Salmons couldn't hit a shot
from beyond the arc inside of a minute left, but again the Cavs couldn't
capitalize as Williams rushed a running shot from the left side and it clanked
off the backboard.
The Bulls then worked the shot clock down, but when Deng missed off the
backboard, the Cavs were given the ball back with 4.3 seconds left thanks to a
24-second shot-clock violation.
James drove to the left of the lane, but Deng was all over him and Noah came
to help before the ball went out of bounds. Officials used video to review the
play, but Chicago was given possession and a successful inbounds pass resulted
in the game ending.
"I thought LeBron drove the ball and Noah came across the paint," said Cavs
coach Mike Brown. "As he came across the paint, he jumped. I understand the
rule of verticality, but if you're going across the paint or the lane and you
meet somebody on the other side, I don't know."
"We just wanted to make sure to not give him a straight-line drive," said
Deng. "I knew my help was going to be there; I just couldn't give him a
straight-line drive. He is so good you just have to try to slow him down."
The Cavs held a 27-25 edge after one quarter and the fans in Cleveland held
their breath late in the second when James went diving into the crowd to try
and save the ball from going out of bounds. The reigning MVP got up and winced
in pain, but remained on the court, only to see the Bulls grab a 46-43 lead at
the half thanks to eight straight points to end the quarter.
It was tight throughout the third with the Cavs grabbing a 65-63 edge at the
end of the period after a three-pointer from Daniel Gibson.