There are no palm trees in this gritty downtown, and LeBron James is a different superstar from Dwyane Wade.
And those aren’t the only differences from Sunday in South Florida.
This time, the Bulls didn’t waste a winnable opportunity on the road, denying James’ final drive to preserve a gritty 86-85 victory over the Cavaliers on Thursday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
Luol Deng guarded James’ ably in the waning seconds, forcing him left, where Joakim Noah arrived with help. James lost the ball out of bounds with 0.2 seconds left to preserve the victory.
Deng led the Bulls with 15 points and added seven rebounds. John Salmons and Derrick Rose added 14 points each, and Noah had seven points and 11 rebounds. Rose had 11 assists.
Kirk Hinrich left the court and retreated to the locker room just 10 seconds into the fourth quarter after James opened a cut while Hinrich tried to take a charge. But Hinrich didn’t immediately require stitches and returned at the 7:52 mark.
Hinrich finished with nine points, six rebounds and four assists.
James led Cleveland with 25 points.
The Bulls closed the first half with an 8-0 run to take a 46-43 lead. Salmons, continuing the aggressive approach he exhibited from the game’s start, scored five of his 11 first-half points in the spurt, including a 3-pointer.
Rookie Taj Gibson, again starting at power forward, scored the other three.
Gibson played his best game yet with 11 points and seven rebounds subbing for Tyrus Thomas, who delivered a gutsy effort. The forward, who has been sidelined by the flu, traveled to Cleveland on his own and had six points in 13 minutes.
Gibson’s jumper gave the Bulls the lead for good at 76-74.
Brad Miller deflected an entry pass intended for Shaquille O’Neal, and Rose went the length of the court for a lay-in and four-point lead.
The Cavaliers pulled to 80-78 on an O’Neal power move with 4:15 left. But Miller responded with a jumper.
After back-to-back Cavaliers misses, Miller scored on a driving layup with 2:36 left for an 84-78 lead.
Mo Williams sank two free throws with 2:18 left to make it 84-80. This time, Miller missed on a drive and fouled James after he rebounded and started upcourt. James made both free throws with 1:59 left to make it a two-point game again.
Rose swished a pretty one-handed floater in traffic with 1:44 remaining to push the Bulls’ lead back to four. But James drained a pull-up 3-pointer 11 seconds later to make it a one-point game.
Salmons drove and pump-faked two defenders into the air, staring at an apparent wide-open lay-in — until James flew in and emphatically blocked it. But Williams missed a 3-pointer at the other end.
Salmons then missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key, but Williams bricked a running drive at his end.
The Bulls followed with a brutal possession in which Deng had to hurry a drive to beat the shot clock. When he failed — although the Bulls claim Deng’s shot hit the rim and Miller grabbed the rebound — it marked the Bulls’ first turnover of the final quarter, setting up the Cavaliers’ final possession with 4.3 seconds left.
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
