Dwyane Wade, Bulls Get Back To Their Basketball In Win Against Cavs
By Cody Westerlund--
CHICAGO (CBS) – Friday evening at the United Center began with a playoff-like scene. More than a half-hour before the Cavaliers' team buses arrived shortly before 5 p.m., dozens and dozens of cameramen, reporters, hangers-on, arena staffers and team employees crowded an entry corridor and hallway.
All the hubbub? They had gathered to watch Cleveland star LeBron James walk, oh, about 100 yards while dressed up in a Cubs uniform. James donned the look of a baseball player to repay a bet he'd lost with good friend and Bulls guard Dwyane Wade when the Cubs defeated the Indians in the World Series. It was all in good fun.
What followed was good-natured basketball.
In as entertaining of an early December game as you may find outside a contest featuring the Warriors, the Bulls (11-7) held off the defending champion Cavaliers, 111-105. It was no sort of statement game, Chicago star Jimmy Butler would say afterward, but it was taken seriously enough by Cleveland that James logged just shy of 45 minutes, Kevin Love played nearly 42 and James would say postgame that the "honeymoon is over" for the Cavaliers (13-5).
Most significantly, two nights after their worst performance of the season in a listless loss to the Lakers, the Bulls played the type of basketball they desire. They won the rebounding battle 49-33, with a defensive rebounding percentage of 84.6. They held the Cavaliers to 10 free-throw attempts, with James failing to get there once.
The fact that Chicago shot 3-of-18 on 3-pointers wasn't of much concern as it recorded 78 points in the paint, sparked by Taj Gibson's 23 points on 10-of-13 from the field and 11 rebounds.
"Tonight was all about finding a way to win," Wade said. "No egos involved at all, just a total team effort, man, just a good way to win. No matter who you're playing, the way that we played is the way we want to play to win."
The subplot of the night was Wade facing former Heat teammate James for the first time with his hometown Bulls. A day prior, Wade acknowledged he couldn't offer the cliché line that facing James was just another game. It did mean more, he said.
He played like it, scoring 24 points on 11-of-23 from the field and adding five rebounds and four assists. With a rest day for himself already planned for Saturday when Chicago plays at Dallas, Wade told coach Fred Hoiberg to ride him, so he logged 37 minutes.
For several long stretches, including late, Wade sought out the assignment of guarding James (27 points, 13 assists, eight turnovers), who's usually shadowed by Butler. It allowed Butler some extra time to compose himself, and he went for a big night too, with 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
"That's great – let D-Wade turn into 23-, 24-, 25-year-old D-Wade," Butler said. "He can still guard, disrupt people's shots, rebound and get out in transition. Like he was telling me back there in the cold tub, it's a different game going up against a team like that. It brings out the best in everyone."
It was in those final minutes that Wade sealed the contest. In consecutive sequences, he sliced through the Cavaliers defense for a layup and six-point lead, smothered James to help Niko Mirotic nab a steal and then had a putback layup to give Chicago an eight-point cushion.
"I could play against that guy 82 games a year," Wade said of facing James. "He brings the best out of everyone."
This Bulls' win featured Hoiberg tinkering with the rotation. The Bulls played small for some significant stretches, with Niko Mirotic at center at one point and Butler manning some power forward minutes. Bobby Portis and Cristiano Felicio each took a DNP-coach's decision. Chicago used nine players, but only seven played at least seven minutes in a game in which its starters scored 98 of its 111 points.
Amid all that, the Bulls still traced the win to their toughness more than anything.
"We've been poised, we've been humble, we've been putting the work in," Gibson said. "Fred's been doing a helluva job early in the season just figuring out how he wants to play."
Added Butler: "We know what we're capable of. And if we play basketball the right way and do what we're supposed to do on both ends of the floor, if we play Chicago Bulls basketball, we win games. If we decide to get away from ourselves, you see what happens."
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and coversthe Bulls. He's also the co-host of the @LockedOnBulls podcast, which you can subscribe to on iTunes and Stitcher. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
