Call this an improvement. After Sunday’s 45-point debacle in Houston, there was a lot of room for it.
This time, a fourth-quarter surge failed as the Bulls lost their 18th game in the last 20, falling 86-81 to the Cleveland Cavaliers, another of the lesser teams in the Central Division.
“We were better tonight than we were down in Houston,” Bulls coach Tim Floyd said. “Coming off one of those games that people say you’re supposed to forget, I’m glad that our guys didn’t forget it and came out and played spirited. But we’re still not at the point where we can do that on a consistent basis.”
A layup by Dickey Simpkins with just less than nine minutes to play capped a 10-2 run by the Bulls that gave them a 63-62 lead, their first since early in the second quarter. Four minutes later, Simpkins dunked home a missed Hersey Hawkins shot to tie the score at 70.
But the Cavs then built a five-point lead with less than a minute to play, using sharp long-range shooting and a feisty defense. Lamond Murray hit a three-pointer with 21.9 seconds left in the game to seal the win for Cleveland.
Elton Brand led the Bulls with 27 points and eight rebounds and Hawkins added five three-pointers and totaled 20 points. Bobby Sura led four Cavs in double figures with 20 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter.
“It was just another one of those nights when we didn’t shoot the ball well, and we’ve had plenty of those,” Hawkins said. “But our defense was good and it kept us in the game until the end.”
The Bulls shot 38 percent from the field, the Cavs 42 percent.
A quick start was important to the Bulls on Wednesday–three days removed from their worst loss of the season, the 123-78 setback to the Rockets–and they got it. The Bulls took a 26-22 lead early in the second quarter behind 10 points from Brand and long-range shooting from Hawkins.
But the Cavs went on a 12-1 run midway through the second quarter and took a 44-37 lead into halftime. The Bulls were outscored 22-13 in the second quarter and made just six field goals.
“It’s a repeat of the last two games at home,” Brand said. “We just couldn’t finish it.”
The matchup between Brand and Shawn Kemp never materialized. The two never faced each other directly. Kemp played just 28 minutes and scored only 10 points as the Cavs rotated a lot of players.
After the loss, Floyd was left looking for a positive–and instead he found himself looking to the future.
“I don’t feel good right now,” he said. “Maybe on the plane [to Miami] I will look and say, `That is a real positive,’ especially given that we have five new players coming in next year with the three draft picks and whatever happens in free agency. There’s a lot of hope on the horizon.”
Armstrong out: Guard B.J. Armstrong was placed on the injured list Wednesday with tendinitis in his left knee. Armstrong had surgery on the knee earlier this season and missed 48 games while recovering. Since then he had played 20 games, starting 13 and averaging 7.9 points per game.
“It just feels really irritated right now,” Armstrong said. “I can’t explode or push off it right now.”
Armstrong said he expects to be back sometime next week. Michael Ruffin was activated to take Armstrong’s spot on the roster. Ruffin had missed the last seven games with tendinitis in his right shoulder.
Brown hurt: Randy Brown hyperextended his left knee with 7:47 left in the third quarter and did not return to the game. Brown injured the knee when he collided with Cavs forward Andrew DeClercq.
