Three takeaways from Cleveland Cavaliers latest loss to Chicago Bulls

Stop us if you have heard this before, but the Cleveland Cavaliers lost a game that they should have won.

The latest example was Friday night’s letdown against the Chicago Bulls, the same team that had beaten the Cavaliers on Wednesday. The Cavs were without Donovan Mitchell due to an illness, but the Cavs were seven-point betting favorites the morning before Friday’s game.

While the Cavs continue to deal with injuries, they continue to drop games.

These are four takeaways from Cleveland’s loss:

1. These games still count… so it’s time to act like that

Games in December count the same as games in April, and it’s time for the Cavaliers to wake up and realize that.

Even without Mitchell and Evan Mobley available, the Cavs should be a better team than the Bulls. Of course, not having either Sam Merrill or Max Strus complicates things further, but this is one of the worst teams in the NBA that we’re talking about.

In the last few games, the Cavs have lost to the Golden State Warriors without Stephen Curry. They nearly lost to the Washington Wizards if it wasn’t for a heroic effort from Mitchell. They have also lost to the Portland Trail Blazers and Charlotte Hornets on top of two bad losses against the Bulls in December.

The Cavs are 15-14. They are the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. While there’s still a good amount of time to turn this around, they should be playing way better basketball – even undermanned.

2. Out-rebounded… again

After the game, Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson admitted that the team is working to find a balance between crashing the offensive glass and getting back in transition.

Against fast, athletic teams like the Bulls, it’s clear that the Cavs are stuck in the middle of trying to rebound while being watchable in the fast break. It’s the same way the Indiana Pacers were able to beat them in the NBA Playoffs last season.

Even without Mobley, Jarrett Allen should be better than Nicola Vucevic and Matas Buzelis, who dropped 24 points a piece in Friday night’s game.

A big part of rebounding is effort. And that’s something that the Cavaliers are not playing with much of right now.

3. Darius Garland turned a corner

The Cavaliers are playing their way out of having any silver linings or morale victories in defeat. This is a pressure cooker season where expectations were as high as NBA Finals.

But Garland’s 35-point performance against the Bulls was a sight for sore eyes.

Garland has struggled with the pain management part of his toe injury recovery. It’s something he’s going to have to deal with for the rest of the season. So it was nice to see that the former All-Star guard can still pour it on offensively.