Game Day Report: Cavs Vs. Bulls

The Cavaliers look for their first win of the season against the Bulls.

Author:
Jon Rudder
Oct 22, 2022 10:09 AM EDT

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The Cavaliers are in Chicago to take on the Bulls in the first of four matchups between the Central Division rivals this season.

The Bulls come into Saturday night’s tip with a 1-1 record and are on the second night of a back-to-back after taking a 102-100 loss to the Wizards on Friday night. Those same Wizards will be at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Sunday for the Wine and Gold’s home opener at 7 p.m.

Cleveland dropped its season opener to Toronto on Wednesday night and held a practice in Canada on Thursday before departing for the Windy City.

J-A All Day

Jarrett Allen notched his first double-double on Wednesday night in Toronto, finishing with 13 PTS, a team-high ten rebounds and two blocks in 34 minutes.

Allen recorded a career-high 32 double-doubles last season, and the Cavs were 26-6 when Allen went into double figures in two categories. The Cavs big man anchors a defense that will look to slow down an offense that features Demar DeRozen, Zach Levine and Nicola Vucevic.

Allen or Evan Mobley will likely man up against Vucevic, who averaged 23.4 points per game in 2020-21 but hat dropped to 17.4 last year.

Life Without DG

The Cavaliers will, in all likelihood, play Saturday night’s tilt with the Bulls without point guard Darius Garland. Garland left the Cavs 108-105 loss to the Raptors Wednesday night with a left eye injury and is continuing to be evaluated by team medical personnel.

Garland isn’t said to be experiencing any vision problems, but the eye was swelled shut.

"It does not look pretty," Bickerstaff said. "When you take a cut, right in that inner part of the eyelid and the eye. The eye is swollen. Bloodshot on the eyeball. We just hope he gets better and relieve the pain so he's not going through that."

The injury forces the Cavs to re-evaluate their plans just a game into the regular season. Bickerstaff had intended to stagger Garland with Mitchell to create a balanced offense and always keep three of his top six guys on the floor.

As the primary ball handling duties now fall to Mitchell, Bickerstaff said they will likely shorten Mitchell’s shifts to keep him fresh. Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro and Cedi Osman will also get reps handling the ball in the event Mitchell heads to the bench.

Raul Neto left a lot to be desired when forced into action on Wednesday night despite having a strong preseason and camp. In just six minutes, Neto was a minus-8.

Forget About Dre?

Andre Drummond, who had a cup of coffee with the Cavs after being acquired from the Pistons before being sent away in the trade to acquire Allen, has now landed in the Windy City.

The Bulls mark Drummond’s sixth team in his 11^th season and even though he’s relegated to a bench role Drummond does fill a specific need.

The Bulls ranked 28th last season in rebounding and sought Drummond to bolster that area.

Rebounding isn’t just about numbers; it’s about making a statement. It’s about sending a physical message to your opponent and claiming the paint and Drummond can certainly assert himself in the paint.

For the Bulls, might be more important for the Bulls than the actual rebounding number. He had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 18 minutes Friday night.