Cavaliers overcome 19 point deficit to defeat Bulls 128-122
BY TIM SHIRER
CAVS BET WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - A week ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers were 3-3, they had lost two in a row, and some people were panicking needlessly. The Cavs were winners of three straight entering Saturday night’s contest.
The Cavs welcomed the Chicago Bulls (6-2, 1-2 road) to Rocket Arena. Entering the game the Bulls led the all-time series 133-108, though the Cavs do lead all-time at home (Cleveland Arena, Richfield Coliseum, Rocket Arena) 64-54. The Cavs have also won four straight against the Bulls sweeping them last season and have won 11 of the last 12 meetings. The Cavs extended their win streak against the Bulls to five with a 128-122 comeback win after trailing by as much as 19 points sending the sellout crowd of 19,432 home happy.
The Cavs got off to a quick 7-0 lead with 10:27 left courtesy of two Chicago turnovers and five points by De’Andre Hunter. Bulls coach Billy Donovan took an immediate timeout. During the timeout the Cavs paid tribute to Isaac Okoro who the team traded to Chicago in the summer for Lonzo Ball. Okoro received a loud ovation from the sellout crowd of 19,492 and showed his appreciation by pointing at the fans. After the initial run the Bulls outscored the Cavs 10-8 to cut the Cleveland lead to 15-10 capped off by an Okoro three. Then with 5:44 left the Bulls tied the game 15-15 when Nikola Vucevic scored in the paint. Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson called an immediate timeout. The Cavs then went on a 9-0 run capped off on a layup by Jarrett Allen on a nice pass from Sam Merrill with 3:49 left in the opening quarter. The Bulls cut the Cavs lead to 28-23 with 1:30 left when Kevin Heurter was fouled by Allen, made the shot and free throw. The Bulls trimmed the lead to three points with :48 seconds left and that is how the quarter ended with the Cavs on top 32-29. Mobley led everyone with 11 points. Patrick Williams paced Chicago with six points. The Bulls outshot the Cavs 58% (11 of 19) to 54% (13 of 24). The Cavs shot a miserable 10% (1 of10) from behind the three-point arc while the Bulls Shot 67% (4 of 6). The Bulls also outrebounded the Cavs 9-8. The Cavs did take care of the ball better than Chicago in the first 12 minutes as the Bulls turned the ball over 7 times and the Cavs just four.
It didn’t take Bulls long to take their first lead of the game just :31 into the second quarter after tying the game 32-32 they took a 34032 lead when Mobley fouled Jalen Smith and he made both free throws. The Bulls extended their lead to 38-34 when Josh Giddey was fouled by Craig Porter, Jr., with 9:40 left on the clock and the Aussie hit both free throws. Giddey scored again with 8:41 left, giving the Bulls a 40-34 lead. Cleveland then cut the lead to 40-37 when Mobley drained a three with 8:30 left. The Bulls looked the part of the second seed in the East early as they extended the lead to 45-37 with 7:46 remaining in the half, Atkinson used another TO. After the timeout the Bulls lead ballooned to 12 points lead after the Cavs failed to score on two consecutive possessions, Smith drained a three and then the Cavs committed their second three second violation of the game with 6:57 left in the quarter. After the Bulls lead grew to 15 points, the Cavs cut it to 12 when Hunter hit a layup in the paint and was fouled by Julian Phillips with 5:26 left. With 4:51 left in the quarter Tyrese Proctor drained a three for the Cavs but Ayo Dosunmu hit a three at the other end for Chicago and they led 58-43 with 4:33 left. Proctor then hit his second consecutive three, cutting the Bulls advantage to 58-46 with 3:46 left in the opening half. The Bull’s lead was once again 15 when Okoro, who Cavs fans constantly berated for his lack of offense hit his third three of the game to give Chicago a 61-46 lead with 3:33 remaining. Then with 2:18 Okoro, the guy who was apparently not an offensive threat was fouled by Mitchell, hitting both free throw and gave the Bulls a 66-49 advantage. He had 11 points to that point. It was pretty clear at that point of the game that it was a mistake to play Darius Garland on Friday night as the Cavs were definitely missing his offense on Saturday night. The all-star point guard just returned this week from toe surgery and will not play back-to-back games yet. After the Cavs third turnover of the period and seventh of the night the Bulls led 72-53 when Giddey stole the ball and scored at the other end with :35.9. The quarter ended with Bulls in full control 72-56. Mobley led all scorers with 16 first half points, while Hunter contributed 14. Giddey led the Bulls with 13 at the break. The Bulls outplayed the Cavs in every single aspect of the game as they outshot the Cavs from the field 56% (23 of 41) to 44% (21 of 48). Destroyed them from three-point range led by Okoro shooting 71% (10 of 14) while the Cavs shot only 28% (7 of 25). The Cavs as the theme has been all season were decimated on the boards by a smaller Bulls team 27 to 15.
Just 1:06 into the second half the Cavs cut the Bulls lead to 72-60 on a layup by Hunter. Then with 10:19 left in the third, the Cavs’ deficit was down nine points after Mobley scored in the paint and was fouled, he hit the free throw, and the Cavs trailed 72-63. Mobley then cut the Bulls lead to 72-65. The Bulls then turned the ball over again and Jaylon Tyson drained a three and the Cleveland deficit was only four at 72-68. With 8:15 left the Bulls lead was just 76-73 after hunter hit another three. After the Bulls ballooned back up to eight points Hunter continued his scorching third quarter hitting his third three of the period cutting Chicago’s lead to 81-76 with 6:54 remaining. Then with 6:03 left Hunter drove past Giddey who apparently was injured on the play cutting the Chicago lead to 83-78. After a Dean Wade block, the Cavs cut the Bulls lead to 85-83 when Mitchell hit a three with 4:14 left in the period. Then after the Bulls went up 87-83, Mitchell responded after a timeout with another three to cut the Chicago lead to one. After a foul by Smith on Allen. Allen hit one of the two free throws to tie the game 87-87. The Cavs took a 90-89 lead with 2:23 left when Mitchell drained another three, his third of the quarter. With 1:12 left Cleveland extended their lead to 93-91 when Giddey fouled Allen and the big man hit one of two. The Bulls tied it up at the other end on a layup by Smith with :52 left and then took a 96-93 lead when Smith drained a three with :31 left on the third quarter clock. As the third quarter buzzer sounded the Bulls, who led by 18 in the period and 19 in the games, only led 98-96 as Cleveland outscored the Bulls 40-24 in the quarter. Mobley and Hunter led all scorers through three quarters with 24 points each. Smith led the Bulls with 18. The Cavs shot 61% (14 of 23) while the Bulls shot 38% (9 of 24). The Cavs were also on fire in the third quarter from long range as they shot 55% (6 of 11) while the Bulls shot 22% (2 of 9). The Bulls also turned the ball over three times while the Cavs only made one miscue.
With 10:38 left on the fourth quarter clock the Cavs took the lead when Wade slammed home a miss by Mitchell giving the Cavs a 100-98 lead. The Bulle regained the lead, and it increased to 103-100 when Huerter hit a jumper in the paint with 9:36 left. The Chicago lead didn’t last long as Mitchell responded with his fourth three of the second half with 9:25 left tying the game at 103. The Cavs had a change to take the lead with 8:01 left when Allen absolutely blew a layup in the paint, whiffing and the ball went back to the Bulls whole scored on the other end to take a 105-103 lead with 7:54 left after Okoro was fouled by Allen. The Cavs who were on fire in the third quarter from the field had suddenly gone ice cold through the first five minutes of the final quarter were shooting just 27% (3 of 11). The Bulls were not much better at 33% (3 of 9). With 6:56 left the Bulls led 108-103. After Hunter fouled Okoro, his dream night in his return to Cleveland continued as he hit both free throws giving Chicago a 110-103 lead with 6:31 left. Okoro now had 17 points. With 5:27 left Tyson cut the Bulls deficit to 112-108 with a three. Then with 4:23 left Tyson cut the Bulls lead to 114-11 with another triple. The Cavs closed to within one at 116-115 with after Tyson scored in the paint with 3:07 left on the game clock. After Merrill was called for a ticky tack foul Tre Jones went to the line and hit both free throws giving the Bulls an 118-115 lead with 2:57 remaining. Merrill then played awful defense picking up another foul, allowing Chicago to score with the clock stopped and extending their lead to 120-115 with 2:19 left. Another problem for the Cavs was free throw shooting. Hunter was fouled with 1:19 left and only hit one of two. With 1:47 left Giddey drew a foul and hit both shots giving the Bulls a 122-116 lead. With 1:114 left the Cavs cut the Bulls lead to 122-121 when Mitchell scored in the paint. Then with :33.4 left in regulation Mitchell drove from the right side to the hoop scored and was fouled, Mitchell hit the free throw giving Cleveland a 124-122 lead. Vucevic then fouled Hunter at the other end, and he had a chance to give the Cavs a four point lead if he could make both free throws, he did just that and the Cavs led 126-122 with :12.3 left on the clock. The Bulls took a timeout. After the TO the Cavs inbounded at their end. Huerter attempted a three which failed and Evan Mobley rebounded. Tyson was then fouled, and the Cavs secured the 128-122 win.
Hunter and Mitchell led all scorers with 29 points apiece. Mitchell scored 26 of 29 in the second half. Okoro led the Bulls with 19 points in the loss. Smith also contributed 18 for Chicago.
The Cavs finished shooting 49% (46 of 94) from the field, while the Bulls finished at 45% (38 of 84). Cleveland who shot the lights out from three-point land in the second half (10 of 21) ended the night shooting 37% (17 of 46). Chicago shot well from behind the arc the entire game at 45% (13 of 29). The Cavs did not shoot well from the charity strip as they only shot 73% (19 of 26), while the Bulls shot 92% (33 of 36).
Once again, the Cavs were outrebounded, this 49-39. It’s the seventh time in ten games this season Cleveland has been out worked on the boards.
The Cavs will have tomorrow off to travel as they play a two-game series in Miami against the Heat on Monday and Wednesday before returning home to play the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night at 7 (7:10) pm. Both games in Miami have a start time of 7:30 (7:40) pm.
POSTED 11/08/2025 23:01
Lake County Sentinel
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Cavs big man Evan Mobley dunks in the first half of the Cavs 128-122 win over the Chicago Bulls at Rocket Arena on Saturday night. Photo by Tommy Shirer
