Bulls vs. Cavaliers Preview: Top 5 factors
By Mark Carman
LeBron James has beaten the Chicago Bulls three times in the playoffs. This years matchup is the least predictable.
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will be well rested when the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals start tonight. That is about all we know for sure when this very-hard-to-predict-series finally gets underway. Here are the top 5 things to watch as the series gets underway.
1. LeBron playing power forward
James is expected to play extended minutes at the four spot with Kevin Love out for the series. Some combination of Shawn Marion, James Jones, and Mike Miller will play alongside James depending on their effectiveness. Will the Bulls still cover James with Jimmy Butler, or let Taj Gibson/Joakim Noah try to bother him with size and perhaps use Butler on Kyrie Irving? These are options Tom Thibodeau has to be mulling.
When J.R. Smith gets back from suspension, will David Blatt play Smith/ Iman Shumpert at small forward? There is also the traditional James at small forward alongside Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov, but that leaves the Cavs extremely limited spacing the floor. A lot of pressure on Blatt to find the best combination.
2. Can Derrick Rose guard Kyrie Irving?
The Bulls need Derrick Rose to play well on both ends of the floor. In round one versus Milwaukee, Michael Carter-Williams had his way with Rose as the Bucks ran him off a ton of screens and Williams had the size to finish over Rose. Irving does not have that size, but he does have the quickness and the ability to shoot that Williams lacked. Guarding Irving is personal for Rose, who wants to prove to everyone he is still Derrick Rose.
Not surprisingly, Rose has been up and down offensively in the playoffs, but has played extensive minutes and seems to be more and more comfortable on the floor. How his body holds up guarding Irving and running the Bulls offense will go a long way to determining the series winner.
3. The LeBron mental edge
LeBron James has never lost to the Bulls in the playoffs, 3-0. He has also never lost more than one game in a series, 12-3 overall. This is a major mental hurdle for most of the Bulls who have been there for all three series: Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Derrick Rose although Rose did not play two years ago.
When fourth quarter money time arrives, James has switched onto Rose and shut the Bulls offense down. That will be less likely to happen now, with the development of Jimmy Butler plus veteran Pau Gasol. But, until the Bulls get past LeBron or at the very least push deep into the series, there will be no true rivalry between James and Chicago, only dominance.
4. Bulls Bigs
Pau Gasol has been a constant all season long. The rest of the Bulls front court players have not. Joakim Noah was a top five MVP candidate last year. This year he has been half the player recovering from knee surgery. Prior to game five versus Milwaukee, Noah had not scored in double figures in 11 straight games. He had lost nearly all his offensive confidence struggling to finish point blank opportunities and was an abysmal 1-10 from the free throw line in the Bucks series. Taj Gibson is still battling both shoulder and knee injuries and talked openly in the Bucks series how both were “killing him”. Gibson took a cortisone shot for his shoulder. The Bulls did get three days off which should help both Noah and Gibson, but the games will come quick now with the only two day break scheduled in the series between games six and seven. How Gibson and Noah hold up, finish around the hoop and rebound will factor heavily in the series outcome.
5. Coaching
Tom Thibodeau versus David Blatt. Both have a lot on their plates and many options to consider. Who does Blatt play with LeBron up front? Does he play him more at the small or power forward? How does he effectively spread the floor with Kevin Love? How will Thibs use his bench? Does he give Nikola Mirotic an extended look despite a rough first round series versus Milwaukee? How does Thibs adjust to Irving if Rose is having trouble? How will Thibs manage the minutes of Jimmy Butler guarding LeBron and being asked to score? Who plays down the stretch between Noah and Gasol? Who makes the best adjustments throughout the series and how quickly in the coaching chess match bears paying attention to.