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NBA Playoffs 2015: 10 reasons Chicago Bulls will beat Cleveland Cavaliers

By FanSided Staff

Feb 12, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Pau Gasol (16) shoots the ball against Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) during the first quarter at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 12, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Pau Gasol (16) shoots the ball against Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) during the first quarter at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 20, 2014; Columbus, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) spins past Chicago Bulls forward Tony Snell (20) at Value City Arena. Cleveland won the game 107-98. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 20, 2014; Columbus, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) spins past Chicago Bulls forward Tony Snell (20) at Value City Arena. Cleveland won the game 107-98. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports /

Tony Snell Can Efficiently Guard LeBron

Jimmy Butler was quoted after the game five loss to the Milwaukee Bucks as saying “I’m supposed to be the prime time defensive guy. I haven’t been guarding; been worried about offense too much. I need to change that.” While this may or may not be true about the Bucks series. The last thing Jimmy is going to need to stress himself out over in the Cavs series is going to be defense. Partly because he isn’t going to be solely responsible for guarding King James. Tony Snell will share the burden that is guarding the best basketball player in the game. So Butler can focus a little more on offense.

Snell did do a fabulous job on LeBron when responsible for guarding the king. In the Bulls February match up with the Cavs Snell forced 8 turnovers from LeBron. His lanky body and long stride defensive movement make him one of the best defenders equipped to guard LeBron.

Forcing Snell to guard LeBron will free up Butler a bit more to contribute more of his time and energy on the offensive end. While he claims he needs to focus more on defense, everyone knows that Butler is the Bulls best scorer right no. So the Bulls need him to lead their team on offense if they want to keep up with the Cavs.

We have seen many a time what Butler is capable when he is at his best on the offensive end. In Game 2 of the Milwaukee series, Butler scored 31 points on 10-of-19 shooting. If Butler can get back to doing what he’s comfortable doing because Snell will be primarily concerned with guarding LeBron, the Bulls have yet another advantage over Cleveland.

Cavaliers Response: Tony Snell is a great defender, but he’s only guarded regular season LeBron and not his evil postseason twin. Sure, it’s a crutch to say ‘Playoff LeBron’ is different — but he is. Playoff LeBron has two titles and more postseason minutes under his belt than most playoff teams combined at this point. He knows how to win in the playoffs and he knows how to turn it up to the next level. That’s something that Snell is unprepared for and may not be able to adapt to this series. Read more reasons why Cavaliers will beat the Bulls here.

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