Bulls at Cavaliers
The Chicago Bulls attempt to record their seventh consecutive victory in Cleveland when they visit the struggling Cavaliers on Saturday. Chicago is just 2-7 on the road and Wednesday’s victory over the Detroit Pistons snapped a string of four straight losses on the six-game road trip that concludes in Cleveland. The Bulls notched a 96-81 home victory over the Cavaliers on Nov. 11 when Derrick Rose was still healthy prior to his recent season-ending knee injury.
The Cavaliers have lost five straight games and eight of nine and were largely non-competitive in Friday’s 103-86 loss to the Boston Celtics. Cleveland scored just 10 first-quarter points on 4-of-19 shooting and produced fewer than 100 points for the 12th time in 16 games. Chicago received a stellar effort from forward Taj Gibson – a career-high 23 points on 11-of-13 shooting – in its last outing.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, WGN (Chicago), FSN Ohio (Cleveland)
ABOUT THE BULLS (7-7): Rookie guard Tony Snell has started the past two games with Jimmy Butler still sidelined with a toe injury. Snell, a first-round pick out of New Mexico, tallied a season-best 13 points against Detroit and appeared more comfortable than his nine-point effort two nights earlier against Utah. “He’s very good in a lot of areas,” Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He can shoot, he can pass, he can make plays and I still think he can do more. There are obviously a lot of areas he can improve on.”
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (4-12): There has been a lot of recent chatter about guard Dion Waiters being disgruntled but the second-year pro has scored 45 points in the past two games, including 21 against Boston. Waiters was disappointed with the effort of his team against the Celtics and provided a pointed critique after the beat-down. “They threw the first punch and I feel like we laid down,” Waiters said. “They controlled the whole game. We’ve got to be men. We’ve got to grow up. We can’t just turn it around and think it’s going to be easy. This is a man’s league so at the end of the day, we’ve got to bring it.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Chicago has won 12 of the past 13 meetings.
2. Cavaliers G C.J. Miles (calf) has missed four consecutive games.
3. The Bulls allowed just 26 second-half points in Wednesday’s win over the Pistons.