The Cleveland Cavaliers may have advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a harrowing 96–94 win over the Chicago Bulls at the Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday, but they didn’t do it without some luck.
Chicago’s Derrick Rose had two crucial fourth quarter shots roll around and rim out. Even more crushing was when the Bulls were down 3 with 37 seconds left, and Joakim Noah’s attempted rebound off a Mo Williams miss slipped out of his hands and out of bounds.
Rose did everything he could to keep his team in the game, finishing with 31 points to lead all scorers, but it wasn’t enough.
Officiating controversy also dominated the game as three Bulls big men got into foul trouble trying to defend Shaquille O’Neal. Starting rookie forward Taj Gibson picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter while center Brad Miller got hit with his third foul three minutes into the second quarter.
Gibson and Miller fouled out. Miller had extremely questionable consecutive fouls called on him within five seconds of each other early in the fourth quarter. The third big man, starting center Joakim Noah, finished the game with five fouls.
LeBron James only had 3 points at halftime on 1–3 shooting. The heavy offensive workload went to forward Antawn Jamison, who finished with 25 points, 20 from the first half. However, James showed his versatility by almost getting his second triple double in two games.
James finished the game with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists. “He doesn’t care if he scores or not,” Jamison said of James. “He just wants to win basketball games and he’s one of our most unselfish players out there so he does a great job for us finding open guys.”
However, the biggest concern for the Cavs going forward is the health of James. He tried to ice the game with seven seconds left with two free throws, making the first, but shooting the second left-handed because his right arm was bothering him.
James will get an MRI on the arm. “It’s been bothering me probably about the last three weeks,” he said. “We’re trying to figure it out. It’s nothing structural.”
The 4–1 series win now means the No. 1 seed Cavs take on the No. 4 seed Boston Celtics, who also won their series over the Miami Heat 4–1 earlier in the night. The semifinal series will be a rematch of the intense seven-game series in 2008 that Boston won.
Cleveland was the No. 4 seed that year while the Celtics were the No. 1 seed and also went on to win the NBA Finals.
Chicago’s Derrick Rose had two crucial fourth quarter shots roll around and rim out. Even more crushing was when the Bulls were down 3 with 37 seconds left, and Joakim Noah’s attempted rebound off a Mo Williams miss slipped out of his hands and out of bounds.
Rose did everything he could to keep his team in the game, finishing with 31 points to lead all scorers, but it wasn’t enough.
Officiating controversy also dominated the game as three Bulls big men got into foul trouble trying to defend Shaquille O’Neal. Starting rookie forward Taj Gibson picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter while center Brad Miller got hit with his third foul three minutes into the second quarter.
Gibson and Miller fouled out. Miller had extremely questionable consecutive fouls called on him within five seconds of each other early in the fourth quarter. The third big man, starting center Joakim Noah, finished the game with five fouls.
LeBron James only had 3 points at halftime on 1–3 shooting. The heavy offensive workload went to forward Antawn Jamison, who finished with 25 points, 20 from the first half. However, James showed his versatility by almost getting his second triple double in two games.
James finished the game with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists. “He doesn’t care if he scores or not,” Jamison said of James. “He just wants to win basketball games and he’s one of our most unselfish players out there so he does a great job for us finding open guys.”
However, the biggest concern for the Cavs going forward is the health of James. He tried to ice the game with seven seconds left with two free throws, making the first, but shooting the second left-handed because his right arm was bothering him.
James will get an MRI on the arm. “It’s been bothering me probably about the last three weeks,” he said. “We’re trying to figure it out. It’s nothing structural.”
The 4–1 series win now means the No. 1 seed Cavs take on the No. 4 seed Boston Celtics, who also won their series over the Miami Heat 4–1 earlier in the night. The semifinal series will be a rematch of the intense seven-game series in 2008 that Boston won.
Cleveland was the No. 4 seed that year while the Celtics were the No. 1 seed and also went on to win the NBA Finals.
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