In what was looking to be one of the ugliest playoff games of this postseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers found a little bit of magic at the end of the game against the Chicago Bulls to even the series 2-2. With Kyrie Irving hobbled but playing and Pau Gasol hobbled and not playing, we ended up seeing a really bad display of offensive execution with both teams shooting a horrible percentage from the field. The Cavs' two biggest stars struggled to make shots all day and anybody not named Derrick Rose ended up missing a lot for the Bulls.
Cleveland managed to walk away the victor, thanks to a clutch shot by LeBron James that left the Bulls feeling like they let one slip away. Instead of taking a commanding 3-1 series lead, the Bulls just saw their offense petering out the entire night. Aside from one really good third quarter and an even first quarter, the Bulls seemed incapable of making the shots necessary to put all the pressure on Cleveland.
Here's what we learned from Cavaliers-Bulls Game 4:
1. LEBRON JAMES WON THE GAME, TIMOFEY MOZGOV KEPT THEM IN IT
The lasting impression we'll take from this victory by the Cavaliers was LeBron James' clutch shot at the end. After some wild officiating in which James was called for a questionable offensive foul, David Blatt possibly called a timeout the refs didn't see when the Cavs didn't have any, and James probably getting fouled by Joakim Noah before the final inbound play, the final moments of the game were absolute chaos. The refs ended up giving the Cavs 1.5 seconds on the clock instead of 0.8 seconds, and Matthew Dellavedova inbounded the ball to LeBron, who then promptly knocked down the corner jumper for the win.
It was a big moment that overtook the overall poor performance from James throughout the game. He was just 10-of-30 from the field, attempted just four free throws, was 1-of-7 from 3-point range and turned the ball over eight times. He did some good things. He grabbed 14 rebounds, dished out eight assists, and played some solid defense on Jimmy Butler throughout the game. But he ended up bailing out himself and the team after a horrendous 38.7 percent from the field and 20.0 percent from 3-point range performance during Game 4.
The big reason the Cavs were even in position to win that game (which they almost blew) was the incredible play of Timofey Mozgov. He was probably the most effective player on the floor for Cleveland throughout Game 4, finishing with 15 points (4-of-5 from the field and 7-of-8 on free throws), nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks. His play inside really kept the Bulls from dominating the paint (just 32 points), and Mozgov seemed to bail out the Cavs time and again. Congratulate James on the big shot, but give the game ball to Mozgov for being their consistency.
2. THE BULLS LET DERRICK ROSE DOWN IN THIS GAME
For the second straight game, we got a great performance from Derrick Rose. He led the way with 31 points on 11-of-23 shooting, 2-of-5 from 3-point range, and 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. He also had a couple of rebounds, four assists and only two turnovers. He played great defense against a clearly hobbled Kyrie Irving and never let the Cavs' All-Star point guard really get going when he was checking him. Unfortunately for Rose, he just didn't get enough help from his teammates in a game they didn't have to win, yet maybe needed to win.
Jimmy Butler finished with 19 points but needed 21 shots to get there and didn't get a single trip to the free throw line. Nobody else on the Bulls scored in double figures as they badly missed Pau Gasol and badly missed shots (36.0 percent from the field). Taj Gibson was 2-of-7. Mike Dunleavy was 1-of-7. Joakim Noah (4-of-12 for eight points but did grab 15 rebounds) often looked like he was confused about which team he was playing for. And the bench combined to shoot 6-of-19 from the field for 16 points between four players.
Rose could have shot better in the fourth quarter (seven points on 2-of-7 shooting), but he was the only reason they were in a position to win that sloppy game. He just needs a lot more help than what he received.
3. THIS WAS A GAME OF LULLS, NOT RUNS
For the most part, this game was atrocious. Both teams had unfathomably bad stretches of offense that should have cost them the game, and in the Bulls' case probably did. In the second quarter after taking a 37-29 lead, Chicago saw a stretch of 6:57 in which they didn't hit a shot (0-of-13) and didn't score a single point. The Cavs went on a 16-0 run to take the lead as the Bulls let them off the hook at United Center.
If you paid big money to attend this game, you probably didn't want anybody to catch you on television enjoying the experience.
Then in the third quarter, the Cavs returned the barren offense favor for Chicago. After going up 57-55 with a couple of free throws by Mozgov, the Cavs spent the next 7:12 failing to make a shot (also going 0-of-13) and allowing the Bulls to take control of the game with a 13-0 run to grab a 68-57 lead. It looked like with the way LeBron was struggling and the way Kyrie was moving, the Bulls had regained the upper hand and would just need a solid fourth quarter to go up 3-1 in the series.
Ask Pau Gasol if that ended up happening for them.
Chicago shot 5-of-19 from the field in the fourth quarter and had five turnovers to allow the Cavs to win this game. In the first 5:21 of the fourth quarter, the Cavs went on a 12-2 run to retake the lead. Butler hit a 3-pointer and the Bulls didn't score again for the next almost 3.5 minutes as the Cavs went on a 7-0 run. In the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter, Chicago scored just six points on 2-of-15 shooting.
This wasn't so much a game of runs as it was a game of lulls in the offense.
Game 5 is Tuesday in Cleveland as some team tries to actually grab control of this series.
SERIES SCHEDULE, RESULTS
Game 1 -- Mon May 4
Chicago 99, Cleveland 92
Game 2 -- Wed May 6
Cleveland 106, Chicago 91
Game 3 -- Fri May 8
Chicago 99, Cleveland 96
Game 4 -- Sun May 10
Cleveland 86 Chicago 84 -- Series tied at 2-2
Game 5 -- Tue May 12
Chicago at Cleveland, 7 p.m. ET (TNT)
Game 6 -- Thu May 14
Cleveland at Chicago, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Game 7 * Sun May 17
Chicago at Cleveland TBD
