Game Time: Chicago vs Cleveland

No Drew Gooden tonight. Not sure why.

Kirk Hinrich will be out for the next 3 months. Ben Gordon will take over the starting spot.

First Quarter

• Tie Game 6-6
• Good finish by LeBron James on the fastbreak, he kept the smaller man on his hip while he dribbled towards the basket, and then muscled up the finish over him. He got the foul and FT.
• Thomas switches onto Mo Williams, late in the clock, Mo has to force it 20 feet out along the baseline, blocked by Tyrus, Wallace with the rebound and finish in midair. Next possession, offensive rebound Big Z, passes to the cutting LeBron James, layup.
• Cleveland ahead 13-8
• Thomas out near the three point line right wing, Ben Wallace hanging out in the paint, Tyrus drives left, spins right, jump hook from 12, blocked by Wallace, Gray gets to the loose ball and scores inside.
• Wow … Rose with the crossover dribble slicing into the lane and flying through midair, layup, missed. What a move though.
• Great 40 foot bounce pass cross court from the right wing up near mid-court to the James filling the left lane, right on the money just enough ahead of Rose’s out-stretched hand, slam dunk LeBron James
• Defensive rebound Big Z
• Cleveland are on a 17-4 scoring run right now as they stretch the lead 19-10
• Ben Wallace showing the moves inside, shoulder faking, pump faking, nice footwork, draws the foul, makes one of two
• Joakim Noah misreads a Gordon cut to the corner for a cut to the hoop, throws the bounce, turnover. If Gordon had of made that cut he would have had a layup, his defender had his back turned to the ball and was behind Gordon’s movement.
• Mo Williams with a pretty floater in the lane
• Big Z with another defensive rebound, loose ball foul on Noah going over the back.
• James making the catch above the left elbow, comes off a screen, passes to the corner, long two good. I love seeing James catch the ball beneath the three point line.
• West deflects the pass, Nocioni retains possession. He swings it to the other side, Rose takes it to the cup, misses the layup, offensive rebound Noah, foul on Z. That’s two fouls on Z, he’ll sit down. Noah makes two at the line.
• Cleveland lead 24-14
• West runs off a high screen and roll, has a lane to the rim, doesn’t attack it hard enough, allows the defender to stick with him, skip pass to the corner, no shot on, Gibson dribbles up top, passes back to West in the corner, West drives left, finds Varejao with the wrap around pass, layup
• James tries to throw the tricky behind the back bounce pass in mid air through traffic … steal, fastbreak Bulls going the other way, bucket
• Timeout
• Great block from Noah from behind on Varejao’s layup attempt
• Final minute of the quarter
• Inbounds baseline to Williams, 20 footer catch and shoot, nails it from the left wing
• Deng side arms a 20 footer left wing, hustles down the offensive rebound, passes to Noah, out to Ben Gordon, three pointer top of the key, hits it.
• Ben Gordon holds it at the top of the key, holding it for the final possession, nice drive, spins right, hits the runner
• Great run by Chicago to end the first quarter
• Cleveland ahead 32-27

Second Quarter

• Both teams trade misses to start the quarter … great hustle play by Hickson to come away with that, layup Hickson. Next possession, another offensive rebound Hickson, whisle, travel I think.
• Williams misses a 20 footer from the right corner, shot came off a dribble off a screen and roll … rebound Chicago, they push it upcourt quickly, Ben Gordon takes it hard to hole, fouled, makes two at the line.
• Ben Gordon top of the key, drives left, gets the step, into the middle, fouled by Gibson. Gordon makes one of two FTs to tie the game.
• Tie Game 34-34
• Chicago jump out to a lead, ahead 43-38.
• Cavs post up Big Z on the left box, he turns middle, draws contact, gets the foul, shoots two at the line
• Nocioni passes up the three, passes left, hard drive, missed layup, Tyrus Thomas from the weakside slams it home
• Nice passing from Cleveland to find Z open from 14 feet on the baseline, he hits the shot
• Big Z bangs in a 20 footer right wing
• Nocioni responds with a three pointer
• Chicago ahead 48-42
• 5 minutes to play in the half
• Nocioni bangs home another three pointer. Back to back threes for Noce.
• Big Z left post again, he spins middle, finishes inside.
• Chicago ahead 51-44 with under four minutes to play
• Z posting up on the right post, help comes, bouce pass to Varejao on the opposite side, layup
• Timeout
• Rose stuck in the paint, nobody to pass to, close to a three second call, gets rid of it, Chicago have nothing on, have to force it, miss … defensive rebound, Cleveland get it in the hands of LeBron James who drives down off the left wing into the paint, jumps, takes the contact, tries a fallaway off glass, misses, makes two at the line.
• Nice move by Luol Deng as he curls off a screen into the paint, gets the pass, blows the layup. Jump ball after Gray and Varejao get tied up on the rebound, Bulls win the tip, Rose has it top of the key, dribbles inside, screen just above the elbow, Gray slips behind, Rose rises for the 15 footer at the FT line, changes his mind, finds Gray, wide open dunk, blocked from behind. Wasn’t quick enough.
• Z adds a long jumper to his account
• Deng slicing into the paint again, this time off the drive as Varejao got stuck on the switch, he takes it hard to the rim, hits the layup and the foul. Tech on Varejao, Gordon makes the FT, Deng makes the FT. Varejao still complaining, a teammate tells him to shut up and move onto the next play.
• Chicago lead 55-50
• Delonte West soaring through midair to break up the lob pass on the fastbreak. Out of bounds, Chicago ball. Inbounds to Rose, high screen and roll, gets nothing, picks up his dribble, Chicago in trouble now, turnover.
• Williams off the pick and pop to Z on the left wing, 19 footer teeded up and in
• Great play by Rose, he comes off the screen and roll, drives, Varejao switches, he slowly brings it out, about 15 feet out on the baseline now, then turns, gives a stutter step, blows by Varejao for a layup
• LeBron James with an authorative slam to end the half in the halfcourt

Halftime

• Varejao still complaining about the call. He’s in the refs face over the scorers table, a second ref ushers him away to the locker room before he gets himself into trouble.
• Chicago ahead 57-54
• Chicago ahead on the backboards 25-21
• Chicago have only 8 assists on their 20 baskets, shooting only 20-48 from the field for 41.7% shooting. They are, however, shooting 3-5 from three and 13-15 from the FT line.
• Cleveland also have a low assist number with 10 dimes on 23 baskets, shooting 23-49 from 47% FG%. They are 0-3 from behind the arc and 8-9 from the FT line.
• LeBron James has only 3 FTs in the first half …. he has taken 18 shots and has only 3 FTs, unusual for him. He is 7-18 from the field  and has only 2 assists. He does have 6 rebounds though.
• Big Z has done a great job for Cleveland finishing with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists on 6-11 shooting plus 4-4 from the FT line. LeBron and Z have combined for 33 of the Cavs 54 points, with nobody else having more than 6. Some of their teammates need to step up offensively, their guards - Mo Williams, Delonte West, Danny Gibson - haven’t done nearly enough.
• Chicago have 7 turnovers costing them 11 points. Cleveland have only 5 turnovers, costing them 3 points. Nice edge in transition points from Cleveland.
• Ben Gordon got his first start of the season tonight and has responded with 17 first half points.
• Chicago had 7 blocks in the first half led by Tyrus Thomas with 3. They also have 3 steals.
• Deng has chimed in with 14 points of his own, while Noce has 10 off the bench. Derrick Rose has 6 and 5. The Bulls starting big men have 4 points apiece.

Came across this stat at halftime – LeBron James is 7-41 (17%) on jump shots to start the season.

Third Quarter

• Tyrus hits the 15 footer (right wing) off his guard’s penetration
• Noah deflecting William’s pass out off a Cavs player
• Rose drive and dish to Thomas, 18 footer left baseline, miss
• Chicago ahead 59-54
• Derrick Rose dribbling, stops and pops from the left elbow, hits it. Terrible defense by Williams, no pressure on the ball whatsoever, didn’t contest the shot either.
• Williams driving along the baseline, shuffle pass to Big Ben, pump fake, Tyrus goes for it, Wallace stuffs it home
• Big Z saves the ball in the left corner after an awkward bounce from Tyrus’ missed FT, it falls right to LeBron, he goes coast to coast, hard to the rim, fouled. Tyrus takes a seat.
• Chicago ahead 62-60
• Big Z missing a jumper from the top of the key
• Derrick Rose coming off a high screen and roll, drives left, beats Z to the cup, lays it off the backboard and in
• Timeout
• Chicago lead 68-60
• Rose missing a layup, gets his rebound, resets teh offense, up to Ben Gordon top of the key, to Noah above the FT line, Rose left wing backdoor cut, Noah finds him, layup
• Chicago are up 10
• LeBron James nails a 22 footer left wing
• Chicago run a screen between Rose and Noce, Cleveland switch, passes back to Nocioni at the top of the key, he tries to take advantage of Mo, called for a foul.
• James called for an offensive foul, moving screen. He doesn’t know what he did. Moving screen, you were moving!
• Noce creating one-on-one against Wally World, left wing, fakes a couple of times, crossovers, now drives left, fallaway, Wally looked uncomfortable on the play but fair due to him he stuck it out and got a hand in Noce’s face, may have tipped the ball on the shot too, miss.
• James goes coast to coast, FTs, two of two. He has more FTs in 7 minutes in the third quarter than the first half.
• Gordon runs off a high screen and roll left wing, takes the 18 footer, makes it
• Gibson has a 20 footer rim in and out
• Varejao posting up Noah, nice move, screws it up at the final moment with the way he went up on the release, forced himself to jump backwards on the hook, allowed Noah to contest it, he bangs it in strong off the glass. They all count.
• Chicago ahead 74-66
• 3 plus minutes to play in the third
• James nestles in a three pointer from the top of the key. He’s heating up.
• Timeout Chicago

Missed the final minutes of the third there

Fourth Quarter

• Chicago ahead 77-74
• LeBron James gets to the FT line on Cleveland’s first possession, he came off a high screen and roll, dribbling down the lane, shoulder faking side to side, cut right, went up into Thomas’ body and drew the foul, missed the layup. He made one of two at the line.
• Rose looses his dribble, dribbled it off his heel as he tried to go through his legs from behind, Mo Williams dives on it, passes out, Cavs running the other way, Gibson to LeBron, Bron takes it to the rim, foul. He makes two. Great defense by Cleveland, Varejao and Mo trapped him effectively on the pick and roll and almost stole possession twice before Rose lost control.
• Tie Game at 77
• James pounding the rock into the ground, no movement from Cleveland, he loses his dribble, picks it up, pass, asks for it back, takes a 23 footer off the dribble to beat the shot clock from teh top of the key.
• Wow …. check the highlights for that acrobatic James layup. A guy his size shouldn’t be able to knife through the air like that.
• Rose on the offensive glass, putback, rejected by Varejao
• James on a heat check four feet behind the arc, misses, loose ball foul on Chicago
• Timeout
• Cleveland have taken the lead 85-77
• Cleveland getting some rest for LeBron, also getting some movement offensively. Wonder that? Gibson from the right corner, drives right, teardrop, nails it
• Cleveland ahead 10 points now. Chicago turn the ball over and Ben Gordon rejoins the action.
• 8 minutes to play
• Varejao hits a 17 footer right wing
• Rose and Gordon playing by themselves, causing Cavs’ guards lot of problems off the bounce, Rose ends up getting the to rack and makes the layup
• Thabo and Tyrus go up for the block, they foul Varejao and Thabo decks Tyrus in midair. Hard fall there for Thomas.
• Cleveland ahead 91-79 with 7 minutes to play
• LeBron still on the bench, he’s cheering loudly, most of the Cavs bench is standing. LeBron was, now he’s sitting down again but he’s up every 20 seconds to clap and cheer loudly.
• Loose ball foul on Nocioni, Bulls in the penalty, Varejao gets two, misses the first, makes the second.
• Gordon trapped hard on the pick and roll, forced back to midcourt, struggles to get rid of it …. does, Deng bails Chicago out with a long two.
• Gordon nails a three pointer off the screen and roll
• 9 point game
• Gibson misses the pull up J from the left elbow, Chicago push it quickly, to Deng in the right corner, he drives baseline, muscles up the layup
• 7 point game
• Timeout Cleveland
• James beats Deng on the drive easily, runs into the help defense, three Bulls jump straight up around him, he can’t get the shot anywhere near, miss. Great help D.
• Cleveland lead 96-87 off Mo’s FTs
• 4 minutes to play
• Missed shot, Bron rebound, long outlet to the Gibson who leaked out, looks like an easy layup but Noce is coming down hard and fast, he blocks the layup from behind. Out of bounds, Cavs ball. James runs off two screen and rolls, couldn’t get anything better than a 18 footer fallaway baseline off the dribble while sprinting … how tough is that shot? Want to guess if he made it? Yeah he missed it.
• Nocioni hits a three pointer
• 6 point game
• Timeout Cleveland
• James in the post, spins middle, short shot, rejected
• Three minutes twelve to play
• Two seconds on the shot clock, inbounds to Varejao, he takes a dribble backwards, turning from three along the left baseline falling rather than jumping he heaves a shot … air ball
• Ben Gordon hits a pull up jumper on the other end
• Four point game
• James has it top of the key, high screen and roll, good help defense, he finds Mo open in the left corner, he misses the three … contested rebound … Chicago come away with it. Mo fouls Gordon out near midcourt, trying to steal the ball to make up for his missed shot, he was pressing too much there.
• Rose drives into the paint, jumps up, tries to pass, no angle,  loses the ball on teh way down, West got a piece of it, he tries to pass it again before hitting the ground, deflected out of bounds. Chicago score off the inbounds
• Two point game
• LeBron James hits a 20 footer left wing/top of the key off the dribble after going behind the scree. Cavs ran that screen and roll with their point guard as the screener … I love that play for Cleveland.
• Hard foul by Varejao to deny Gordon’s layup. Good penetration from Gordon. Ben makes two FTs.
• Two point game
• 1:42 to play
• Cleveland brings it up, James has it in his hands, same play, this time James nails a three.
• The score changed. The scoreboard must have been wrong. It’s a 6 point game, not a 5 point game. That’s not Chicago’s scoreboard.
• Derrick Rose draws the foul on his drive, makes the first, misses the second. It rimmed in and out, hit the inside of the rim 2-3 times before coming out.
• Cleveland beat the full court press easily
• James waves off the screen, wants to milk the clock, now they run it, James weaves into the middle, Mo pops to the left corner, three pointer on the way, miss, offensive rebound, James has it again. He milks the clock again, same play again, passes to Mo along the left sideline again, this time the defensive rotation gets to Mo in time, he drives right towards the middle, Nocioni comes from the weakside and alters the shot. Miss. Long rebound fumbled out of bounds, off Varejao.
• Timeout
• Chicago ball, they advance it 3/4ers of the court
• Inbounds to Rose, Rose passes up top to Gordon, he takes a quick three, misses, rebound James, fouled. This is over.

Does anyone else get the impression that the Cavs don’t want any part of the regular? Like it’s an unneccessary chore for them? I’ve gotten that feeling a couple of times in the games I’ve seen.