It was all set up for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers -- an opportunity to clinch the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference and eliminate the "dangerous" Chicago Bulls from playoff contention on the same night.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It was all set up for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers -- an opportunity to clinch the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference and eliminate the "dangerous" Chicago Bulls from playoff contention on the same night.
James was fresh and rested after three days off, with the look of a guy who wanted to continue his springtime tradition of bouncing the Bulls from the postseason. He had done it in four of the last five years, but the tradition ended on Saturday night, as Chicago held off a furious fourth quarter rally, staying alive in the playoff race with a 105-102 win.
The Cavs have two more games remaining, needing one win to grab the top spot.
Meanwhile, the Bulls need a near miracle, having to win out and hope the Indiana Pacers lose the rest of their games. The Bulls continuing their playoff streak is unlikely, something that's probably best for the Cavs.
Chicago won three of the four games this season and it would be a tough, hard-fought first-round playoff matchup -- the kind that any team would want to avoid.
The Cavs had an opportunity to prevent that Saturday. Now it's out of their hands.
Here are five observations from the loss:
Bench woes - The Cavaliers made a switch prior to tipoff, putting Tristan Thompson back in the starting lineup. They also announced that Iman Shumpert would not play because of a lingering knee injury that has forced him to use different forms of treatment before games.
Those changes weakened Cleveland's inconsistent bench even more and it became the deciding factor in the game.
The Bulls' second unit outscored the Cavs' foursome of Matthew Dellavedova, Channing Frye, Richard Jefferson and Timofey Mozgov by a healthy margin, 44-11.
Cris Felicio, who stayed in the game during crunch time, had 16 points on 7-of-7 from the field, outscoring the Cavs' entire bench by himself.
Justin Holiday, who got his NBA start at summer league with the Cavs before getting waived prior to the start of the 2012 regular season, was the closest defender on J.R. Smith's game-tying three-point attempt at the buzzer. Aaron Brooks helped spearhead Chicago's surge at the beginning of the fourth quarter, attacking the defense with dribble penetration. He finished with nine points on 4-of-6 from the field in 16 productive minutes.
Every member of Chicago's bench finished the game with a positive plus/minus, highlighting the impact.
Meanwhile, all of the Cavs' second unit players were on the wrong side of the statistic, including Dellavedova, who became the team's sixth man for the night, asked to anchor the group with Thompson back with the starters. Dellavedova scored three points on 1-of-6 from the field, including 1-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Kyrie Irving's responsibility - While the bench deserves plenty of criticism for its performance on Saturday, Irving shouldn't be ignored. After all, head coach Tyronn Lue has staggered his substitutions, making sure Irving usually starts the second quarter while James and Love, who tend to go the distance in the first, are resting.
The idea is to put the ball in Irving's hands, have him carry the offense during that stretch and give him the freedom to attack.
It's the same plan at the start of the fourth quarter, the time when Irving tends to shine brightest.
That wasn't the case against Chicago.
In the second quarter, during the minutes with James on the bench, the Cavs and Bulls played to a dead heat, 10-10. It was a disappointing result considering Chicago's starting backcourt and Pau Gasol were watching from the bench.
The same thing happened to begin the final period.
It was Irving, Dellavedova, Jefferson, Frye and Mozgov, as the Cavs started the quarter with a three-point lead. The Bulls pressured Irving, hoping to get the ball out of his hands and make one of the other players beat them. The offense stopped, Irving dribbled incessantly and misfired repeatedly.
The Cavs started 0-of-5 from the field and committed two turnovers (both by Irving) in the first four minutes before Lue signaled for James to come back in.
However, at that point, a three-point lead had been turned into a seven-point deficit. The Bulls played with renewed energy and were brimming with confidence, as they outscored the Cavs, 12-2, during that game-changing stretch.
The loss can't be placed solely on Irving, but his fourth quarter was brutal. He scored zero points on 0-of-3 shooting to go with four assists and three turnovers. He finished the night with 11 points on 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) from the field to go with eight assists and four turnovers.
Mr. First Quarter - If Irving has been dubbed "Mr. Fourth Quarter" by Cavaliers play-by-play man Fred McLeod then I'm giving Love a new moniker -- "Mr. First Quarter."
The versatile power forward scored 13 points on 4-of-7 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range in the first 12 minutes. He also went to the free throw line twice and grabbed five rebounds, showing aggression early and stepping into shots with confidence.
This is becoming a trend for Love, who has helped Cleveland get off to quick starts.
Here are his numbers in the last four first quarters:
10.4 minutes, 13.0 points, 68 percent field goals and 71.4 percent three-pointers.
Lue admitted during the broadcast they are looking to play through Love early, asking him to be more aggressive so he can get into an early rhythm and help open up opportunities by putting the defense in a bind. It's been working.
In the first quarter this season, Love is averaging 5.4 points on 43.9 percent from the field, including 36.4 percent from three-point range. He's also getting 4.5 shot attempts.
Unfortunately, he continues to fade as the game progresses.
Love scored seven points on 2-of-10 from the field, including 1-of-4 from distance in the final three quarters.
Gasol poster - One of Love's made baskets in the second half was a jaw-dropping dunk on Gasol, who was ironically picked as an All-Star reserve instead of Love.
It was a thunderous throwdown that had Love bursting with rare emotion, Twitter exploding and his teammates rushing to the free throw line to celebrate with him.
That's the kind of tough, strong finish that hasn't been seen enough since the max player arrived in Cleveland last off-season.
Let it fly - The Cavs weren't hesitant on Saturday, bombing away from three-point range.
They attempted 40 triples for the seventh time this season. They are now 4-3 in those games. The three-pointer can be a devastating weapon, one that helped the Cavs build a one-time 11-point lead. But as I've written about numerous times, over-reliance on the shot can lead to inconsistency. That was the case against Chicago.
The Cavs made 11 of their season-high 19 in the second half, but went just 4-of-11 in the final quarter, including a pair of air balls in the closing seconds.
SEE: Dellavedova air balls potential game-winner
It was also troubling to see such a potent offense unable to create much of anything inside the arc. In the second half, the jump-shot-happy Cavs were 11-of-21 from deep, but just 4-of-19 from two-point range, including 2-of-9 in the fourth quarter. They scored a measly six points in the paint in the final 24 minutes, as there was little offense without the three-ball.
This is a drive-and-kick team, which means there are going to be stretches, and Saturday was a perfect example, dotted with inconsistency and stagnation while the execution suffers and shooters just wait around the perimeter with their hands out. It leads to in-game slumps. It leads to scoring droughts. It's also likely to continue.
