How Cleveland Cavaliers came up short in loss to Chicago Bulls

While not nearly as frigid as the chilling temperatures in a Cleveland Browns loss to the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, the Cleveland Cavaliers looked ice cold as they came up short of evening the short-term score against the Windy City with a 127-111 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.

Guard Donovan Mitchell played a key role for the Cavs in the United Center showdown as he ended the game with 32 points and five assists. The duo of Coby White and Josh Giddey took point for Chicago with 48 points and 14 assists of their own.

While things looked close between the midwestern rivals after a back-and-forth battle to start off things off, Cleveland's core starters, along with a more recent mainstay in Jaylon Tyson, pushed things forward with a string of scores that led them to a double-digit lead early on.

Chicago's guards kept the Bulls in fighting form with a few buckets of their own, which only added to White's ninth game with 20 points or more this season. Giddey and the former North Carolina guard worked with Chicago's bench to swing things back into the Bulls' favor.

They battled with the Cavs as they took a close lead by end of the second quarter and kept things even with a number of forced turnovers and tough makes. Chicago's bench squad earned 38 points on the night, which almost put it on par with its average of a near-league high of about 44 per game entering the matchup.

Dec. 17, 2025; Cleveland Cavaliers v. Chicago Bulls. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images — Dec 17, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Kevin Huerter (13) passes away from Cleveland Cavaliers forward De'Andre Hunter (12) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The Bulls kept their lead in the third quarter as Chicago surged ahead after halftime. Its guards, along with former Cavs wing Isaac Okoro, led the third-quarter charge as the Bulls continued to apply just enough pressure to keep Cleveland off balance.

While the Cavs lit some sparks of hope with some late scores, it wouldn't be enough to stop Chicago's first win in West Madison since a November victory over the Washington Wizards.

Despite their best efforts, the Cavs still have work to do to climb out of their recent streak of bad luck from long range.

They barely edged out the Golden State Warriors for the most three-point attempts per game in the NBA with about 44 heading into the Wednesday-night showdown. The Bulls ranked 10th with just above 38 a contest, including about 20 in the first half.

While Chicago was around the middle of the NBA in three-point percentage heading into the division matchup, the Cavs slipped to near the bottom of the league, with only the Portland Trail Blazers and Indiana Pacers taking spots below them. Cleveland hit a season-low 23.8% of their three-point shots against Golden State earlier this month, which saw Mitchell hit all but three of Cleveland's makes from the 3-point line. The Cavs hit 12 of their 39 shots on Wednesday, which continued their recent streak of hitting fewer than 35% of their 3-point tries.

The Cavs have dropped seven of their last ten matchups, including three of their last five. The Bulls have won just six games since the beginning of November as they slid from a 5-0 start to 11-15 by the Wednesday win. The division rival is in 10th place in the Eastern Conference following a surging start that saw them defeat the East’s top squads in the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks.

Their recent slide was made all the worse by a seven-game skid that was only stopped by a close win over the Charlotte Hornets, who the Cavs recently fell to as they have alternated between wins and losses since the beginning of the month. A get-back win over Chicago could prove key in turning their season around before they reach the new year, where a near-unstoppable Cavs squad was 29-4 before that point last season.

The Cavs will cap off their home-and-home series on Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m. EST in Rocket Arena. The game will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network.