Bulls vs Cavaliers

Tremendous defense down the stretch nearly propelled the Bulls to a comeback win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the bid fell just short.

The Cavaliers entered leading the NBA in defensive rating and third in net rating. Against one of his many former teams in the Bulls in that home opener in October. The Bulls began 0-7 in such games but had righted the ship with seven wins in their last 11 such games, including Friday’s home victory over the Pistons. The Bulls survived a scoring drought of 4:21 in the third but the Cavaliers didn’t run away and hide. The Bulls finished with a season-high 14 steals. That the Bulls even had a chance to win was largely because of stout defense down the stretch from Caruso and Dosunmu. The Bulls lost contact with the Cavaliers in the second quarter, mostly by losing track of the always slippery Caris LeVert. A DeRozan 6-footer with 1:13 left in the third pushed him to 10 points, while Zach LaVine didn’t arrive until the 6:38 mark of the fourth quarter. The Bulls sank just 1-of-9 3-pointers in the first half. (And that’s not to diminish timely reserve contributions from Andre Drummond and Alex Caruso against the Detroit.) Green sank a 3-pointer and powered home a dunk within a minute of checking in and actually led the Bulls in scoring after the first period with eight points. Back in October, the Cavaliers ruined the Bulls’ home opener with a 32-point blowout victory. Fourteen of the first 18 points came in the paint, including the Bulls' first six points, which came from Patrick Williams on two layups and dunk.

Tonight, your 16-19 Chicago Bulls celebrate New Year's Eve by testing out their recent 5-1 tear as they host one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference ...

Can Chicago capitalize on the Cavs’ apparent lackadaisical three-point defense of late? The Cavaliers will be without long-term injury absences Ricky Rubio, Dean Wade and Dylan Windler. [unnecessarily close](https://www.blogabull.com/2022/12/30/23533175/bulls-vs-pistons-final-score-a-clutch-game-turned-blowout-win-behind-lavines-43-points) late. The Bulls struggled to either contain Cleveland’s three-point shooting on defense or match it on offense in the two teams’ prior October meeting. The Bulls might not be frequent three-point shooters, but they do make them at a respectable clip. Some major injury luck could help tilt the game in Chicago’s favor, as the Cavs may be missing two starters in All-Star point guard Darius Garland and second-year power forward Evan Mobley, plus a few other pieces who play legit minutes.

Here's everything you need to know before the Chicago Bulls take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in their 36th game of the 2022-23 regular season.

- Jan. I hope I’m (once again) proven wrong here, but Cleveland has everything they need to make light work of the Bulls. Seeing as how Ayo Dosunmu got the start over Alex Caruso, I expect that to continue to be the case at least for the near future while Caruso ramps back up. Gambling odds and information courtesy of FanDuel. Being blown out by Cleveland after winning the prior three contests also speaks to the excellence of newly acquired Donovan Mitchell, as he has clearly elevated the Cavaliers to a whole new level. This will be the second time these two teams square off this season, with the first being an embarrassing 96-128 blowout in favor of Cleveland.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will continue their road trip as they face off with the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Saturday night. It's time to continue ...

Expect the Cavs to come into the United Center and defeat the Bulls for the second time this season. The Bulls are fifth in field goal shooting percentage, 10th in 3-point shooting percentage, and fifth in three-throw shooting percentage. The Cavs are seventh in field goal shooting percentage, 10th in 3-point shooting percentage, and 11th in free-throw shooting percentage. The Bulls have not found the ideal replacement for him. Then, they must stop Mitchell, Garland, and the potent Cleveland attack. But the Cavaliers destroyed the Bulls 128-96 in a battle at the United Center earlier this season. Also, Allen averages 14 points per game while shooting 62.5 percent from the floor and averaging 10.2 rebounds per contest. However, the Bulls are only 9-8 at the United Center this season. They have the star power to accomplish that. Ultimately, the Bulls pulled away in the fourth quarter after competing in a close game throughout. The Bulls defeated the Detroit Pistons 132-118 on Friday night. The Cavaliers lost 135-126 to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.

The Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Chicago Bulls on New Year's Eve. What are the odds, lineups and a prediction as the Cavs try to get the win?

Donovan Mitchell got some of his mojo back against the Indiana Pacers, and Jarrett Allen is a two-way monster right now. The Cavs need to right the ship; the Bulls want to continue their newfound winning ways. If both play, Cleveland will be in great shape to win. WynnBet has the Cavs favored by 3.5 points, with the over/under point total set to 224. On Monday the Bulls will follow the Cavs back to Cleveland to play again. The Chicago Bulls, on the other hand, have seemingly saved their season by winning five of their last six games, including last night against the Detroit Pistons.

Check out Cavaliers vs. Bulls odds, picks and predictions for Saturday's NBA game, including our full betting preview.

Expect the Cavs to dominate on the glass as the Bulls don’t generate many second chances, ranking 27th in the NBA in offensive rebound rate. The content on this page is for informational purposes only. Alex Caruso is another key reason I expect this Bulls defense to survive at the point of attack against Donovan Mitchell and Garland. This will be the third division rival in a row, and they will not have a rest advantage as the Cavs haven’t played since Thursday night. He also ranks as the top defender in the entire league, according to FiveThirtyEight’s We may be compensated for the links provided on this page. The Bulls just aren’t getting up enough 3s, and I expect this Cavaliers defense to bounce back in this spot. Play the Bulls moneyline at +120. That places him in the 94th percentile of all players in offensive impact, according to The Pacers offense poses unique challenges to the Cavs defense, as they rank fifth in the NBA in 3-point attempt rate. They’ve lost to the eighth-ranked Bucks, fifth-ranked Nets and the 15th-ranked Raptors. Can the Bulls continue their dominant play?

The Bulls had another game head to crunch time, and like a few times over the past couple weeks there was a chance to steal a victory after being down for ...

But, in a familiar refrain, the opponents out-scored the Bulls by a lot from the three point line, hitting 13/38 (34.2%). He did close the game and was a +11 in 25 minutes. It was when the bench started being peppered in the middle of halves where the deficit would swell to double-digits, including a game-worst 14 point deficit in the second half. DeRozan was the best of the bunch with 21 points on 17 shots, but also had 2 turnovers in the final few minutes and didn’t get the best look in that final possession. The Bulls had another game head to crunch time, and like a few times over the past couple weeks there was a chance to steal a victory after being down for much of the game. Zach Lavine had 15 points on 16 shots, and Nikola Vucevic had 11 on 13 attempts, as both combined to go a paltry 1-7 from three in this game.

Tremendous defense down the stretch nearly propelled the Bulls to a comeback win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the bid fell just short.