The Cleveland Cavaliers had two big holes in their lineup to fill with J.R. Smith serving a two-game suspension for hitting Jae Crowder in the face for no reason and Kevin Love missing the next few months with a dislocated shoulder. With those two in the lineup, they had the outside shooting and the necessary spacing for this Cavs team to be a lethal offense against the Chicago Bulls. Without those two in the lineup, the Bulls now had severe advantages for the Cavs to try to overcome.
In the first game of their second round series against each other, the Bulls didn't allow the Cavs to overcome those absences and answer questions about where they'd go from here. Chicago kept coming at the Cavs in waves with offense and while Cleveland did a pretty good job of weathering some of the storms, it just proved to be too much. Chicago didn't get much scoring from their bench, but they had Pau Gasol, Derrick Rose, and Jimmy Butler all score at least 20 points. Considering the Cavs had planned to have a Big Three of their own this season, the Bulls' Big Three not only showed up but secured the Game 1 victory.
Here's what we learned from Cavaliers-Bulls Game 1:
1. I DON'T WANT THIS DERRICK ROSE TO GO AWAY EVER AGAIN
At the start of the first round series against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Bulls were treated to a "Throwback Thursday" type of performance from Derrick Rose in which they were reminded of how he played during his 2011 MVP season. In Game 1 against the Cavs in Round 2, that Rose once again showed up and dominated key stretches of this game. Rose scored 23 of his 25 points in the first three quarters, helping the Bulls build up an 81-70 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Rose finished with 25 points on 11-of-26 from the field after going just 1-of-7 in the fourth quarter. But he was picked up by Jimmy Butler scoring nine of his 20 points in the final period, including a dagger jumper in the lane that put it away for good. Rose shot well from 3-point range (3-of-6) and hit some incredible jumpers. He didn't get to the free throw line, and could stand to find himself some easy points at the charity stripe, but his overall game was exactly what the Bulls needed to counter Kyrie Irving and the Cavs.
Let's never lose this Rose again.
2. THE CAVS GOT A LOT FROM LEBRON JAMES BUT THEY NEED MORE
Speaking of Irving, he was slow to start out in this game, but he eventually caught fire. He finished with a game-high 30 points on 10-of-23 shooting and 9-of-9 from the free throw line, including several ridiculous, acrobatic layups around the rim that kept energizing his team. They needed him to get going early to avoid the slow start to the offense and help keep pace with a Bulls offense that came out firing and connecting, but Kyrie was the best scorer on the court all night long. Amazingly, it just didn't seem like they got enough from LeBron James, even though he finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists.
Butler did a great job of making LeBron work and keeping him off the free throw line (just two attempts). LeBron managed to attempt 10 shots in the restricted area in this game (making six), but outside of the restricted area he was just 3-of-12 on the night. Even with a great defender like Butler on him, that's not an acceptable game from LeBron, especially when you factor in his six turnovers. For the Cavs to survive one more game without Smith and the rest of the playoffs (however long that is), they need the absolute best from LeBron and they didn't get that in Game 1.
3. PAU GASOL IS A MONSTER MISMATCH FOR THE CAVS
One way Cleveland could, in theory, battle Pau Gasol is to make him work and play the perimeter with Love on the floor. Since that isn't an option in this series, the only way to truly make Gasol uncomfortable is to put LeBron at the 4 and hope the grab bag of Shawn Marion, James Jones, or Mike Miller can do anything for you in random stretches of the game. Since that also doesn't seem to be a reality, Gasol is left feasting against Tristan Thompson or whatever wing is assigned to tangle with him inside.
And Gasol feasted in Game 1. He finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and four blocks. He finished with a team-high plus-17 on the floor. It's not like Gasol was going to be stopped by Love on that end of the floor, but being able to place him on Miller or Marion or Jones doesn't actually exploit his weaknesses. He gets to conserve energy and go grab rebounds while the Bulls lock in on Kyrie and LeBron. Thompson has to be able to take this away at some point in the series.
Game 2 is Wednesday in Cleveland with the Cavs trying to salvage some semblance of taking back home court advantage.
SERIES SCHEDULE, RESULTS
Game 1 -- Mon May 4
Chicago 99, Cleveland 92 -- Bulls lead series 1-0
Game 2 -- Wed May 6
Chicago at Cleveland, 7 p.m. ET (TNT)
Game 3 -- Fri May 8
Cleveland at Chicago, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Game 4 -- Sun May 10
Cleveland at Chicago, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 5 * Tue May 12
Chicago at Cleveland TBD
Game 6 * Thu May 14
Cleveland at Chicago TBD
Game 7 * Sun May 17
Chicago at Cleveland TBD
