Cavs’ Love on loss to Bulls: ‘A lost opportunity like that, it should hurt’

On Saturday night against the Chicago Bulls(23-33), the Cleveland Cavaliers(20-36) got a little taste of playoff basketball. Cleveland, who was 2.5 games behind the Bulls for the 10th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs coming into this game, hoped to gain some ground. 

Chicago was without their leading scorer Zach LaVine(health and safety protocols) and had lost five straight, so it appeared that Cleveland had a great chance to get the victory.

However, the Bulls got 25 points from Nikola Vucevic and defeated the Cavaliers 106-96 at United Center to snap their five-game losing streak. 

All five starters scored in double-figures for Cleveland, led by Collin Sexton and Darius Garland, who both had 22 apiece.

Cleveland led 49–47 at halftime, but things fell apart in the third quarter. The Cavaliers were outscored 33-21 in the quarter and allowed the Bulls to shoot 60% from the field. Chicago would lead by as many as 16 points in the third and would take an 80-70 lead into the fourth.

Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff believes the third quarter is what sunk the Cavs.

“To me, the third quarter was most important,” Bickerstaff said after the game. “We dug ourselves a hole. We didn’t come out with the energy that we needed. Too many lackadaisical errors and mistakes… We gave them too many opportunities tonight.”

Garland added on Cleveland’s third-quarter woes: “We’ve been dealing with this all year. We still haven’t figured a way to turn up our energy in the third quarter.”

Cleveland did battle back in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to three with just over three minutes left in the contest. Kevin Love had an opportunity to tie the game but missed a three with just under three minutes to go. Chicago went on a 10-3 run to close out the game.

Love has played in and won many meaningful games in his career, including winning a Game 7 in the 2016 NBA Finals. According to Love, games like this will hurt but will be good for the young Cavaliers.

“I want it to be painful for them,” Love said. “A lost opportunity like that, it should hurt… You want it to be learning experiences, and sometimes those learning experiences can pull on your heart and be very painful. It’s a major factor for growth.”

Cleveland will travel to Detroit to play the Pistons on Monday night before returning home to face the Bulls on Wednesday night.