The Chicago Bulls won over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 on Monday night at Quicken Loans Arena and now the team has a 1-0 lead in their second round series and the NBA playoffs standings has the Bulls leading the Cavs heading into Game 2, which will have LeBron James sand Kyrie Irving looking to bounce back against Derrick Rose.
The Bulls started off the game with a big lead and they held off a late run by the Cavaliers to steal Game 1 on the road. James had 19 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists in the loss, while Rose led the Bulls with 25 points. Pau Gasol had 21 points with 10 rebounds and Jimmy Butler added 20 points and six assists. Butler also made a huge shot at the end to keep the Bulls up five late and the Cavs ended up losing by seven.
The Bulls started the game with a lead at 27-15 after the first quarter and the team later took charge by outscoring the Cavs in the third after Cleveland came back in the second. The Cavaliers played without Kevin Love and JR Smith in the game and the Bulls were able to take advantage up front with Gasol. The Cavaliers were without Love for Game 1 and they will be without him for the rest of the playoffs no matter how far they go.
James did not have a great game overall, making just nine of his 22 shots and moving forward he may have to do even more to beat the Bulls. Irving had a strong game, but it wasn't enough to take down Chicago and the injury to Love could be the difference. The Cavs were considered the favorites in the east before Love went down and now the Bulls may have the depth and the talent at the top to match Cleveland in this series.
James has been down 1-0 to the Bulls in the past and has been able to bounce back and now he will have to do the same. Butler matched up with James quite a bit and the matchup between the two moving forward could decide the series. The Bulls needed to steal at least one game in Cleveland and now they have it and Gasol had another big playoff game, putting up a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds and he also blocked four shots.
Many felt the Bulls wouldn't be able to make a run without Rose being healthy and right now he looks like the old D-Rose before the knee surgeries. If Rose can hold up, the Bulls can go deep.