De'Andre Hunter shines bright for Cavaliers in comeback win over Bulls

De'Andre Hunter can break ankles.

Who would've thought?

At 6-foot-8, 225 pounds, Hunter sent Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey down to the deck in a heap on a nasty crossover. Giddey went down so bad he hurt his ankle, with Hunter pounding the rock and charging towards the basket for a two-handed slam.

“I was really just looking at the bench. I wanted to see how they reacted,” Hunter said. “I don’t think I ever made anybody fall like that and then dunk.”

The bench erupted, the crowd roared and the announcers went berserk as Cleveland gained some much-needed momentum. They carried that moment forward, charging from behind to win the game 128-122 in comeback fashion.

Giddey, who's currently a top-10 player in the Most Valuable Player award race, gave Hunter his flowers.

“I was kind of on my tippy toes, so it’s kind of a weak point of your ankle,” Giddey said. “As he made the crossover, I was up on my tippy toes and tried to change direction, and my ankle kind of just rolled a little bit. But yeah, it’s not a good highlight reel to be on.

“Good move by him.”

THIS DE'ANDRE HUNTER CROSSOVER-SLAM COMBO 🤯🤯🤯

Watch on NBA League Pass: https://t.co/xob27Scjia pic.twitter.com/aQVaLqd62h
— NBA (@NBA) November 9, 2025

With the season as a whole putting Cleveland's back up against the wall, the game against the Bulls gave a similar description.

However, the team wasn't willing to take a tick in the loss column.

The Cavaliers led after the first quarter, 32-29, but when the second quarter rolled around the team lost some of its heat. They allowed a whopping 43 points to the Bulls while scoring just 24, putting them down 72-56 at the halftime break.

A Cavalanche ensued coming out of the break as Cleveland produces a meer image of what the Bulls did offensively in quarter two. They put up 40 points and allowed just 26, cutting the deficit down to two heading into the final frame.

With both sides going back and forth, Hunter's highlight-reel play gave the team a major spark.

Donovan Mitchell scored eight straight points, including the go-ahead basket late in the game to help surge the team to a win. They closed out the matchup on a 12-0 run.

It was good to see from the team's leader, especially considering he went 1-of-10 on his first attempts of the ballgame before turning his performance around.

This next man up mentality, led by Hunter and others, was really the icing on the cake for Cleveland to push their record up to a mark of 8-3 on the young campaign.

Hunter is currently having a great start to the 2025-26 campaign for Cleveland.

The team has been dealing with countless injuries to starters and bench players alike, with Hunter having to pick up some major minutes each night. Against the Bulls, he led the way in points with 29 through 30 minutes of action. He also tacked on two assists and four rebounds.

His season averages have shot up to a strong 18.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per night while shooting 40.8% from the field and 29.6% from deep.

Alongside Hunter, Mitchell put together a nice night.

He tacked on 29 points, six rebounds and six assists while helping control the offense. The Cavaliers are still looking to get starting point guard Darius Garland back up to speed while veteran guard Lonzo Ball remains in and out of the lineup due to load management.

The Cavaliers, who have seemingly bounced back incredibly strong after a rocky start, now turn their attention to the Miami Heat for a matchup on Monday.

The two sides will clash from Kaseya Center with tip-off slated for 7:30 p.m.