The Cleveland Cavaliers, sans three-time All-Star forward Kevin Love, are set to tip-off against the Chicago Bulls Monday night in what should be a hotly-contested second-round matchup.
While Cleveland still boasts best-player-in-the-game LeBron James, Chicago finally has a (mostly) healthy Derrick Rose in the playoffs for the first time since 2011—the year the then top-seeded Bulls fell to LeBron’s Miami Heat in five games in the Eastern Conference finals.
Should LeBron lead short-handed Cleveland past the Bulls this year, it would mark one of his all-time best achievements.
Without the big man Love, who although he’s their third option on offense is a great perimeter shooter, Chicago can now keep both of their shot-blocking big men—Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol—in the lane to challenge the four-time MVP every times he takes it to the rim.
Naturally, having to adjust to losing a star player like Love during the postseason is a major blow to any title aspirations. Chicago knows.
