The Cleveland Cavaliers evened their series with the Chicago Bulls with a victory in Game 2, meaning each team has shown they have what it takes to beat the other. What else did we learn from Game 2?
3) LeBron James needs to be the man every night for the Cavs
Without Kevin Love, the Cavs need LeBron to take charge on the offensive end. The difference can be seen in the difference between Games 1 & 2: his 19 points in Game 1 resulted in a loss, while his 33 points in Game 2 resulted in a win. He’ll get help when J.R. Smith returns from his suspension in Game 3, but LeBron will be relied on to carry the load every single night.
2) Derrick Rose needs his rest
Rose has struggled in the playoffs when he had only one day to rest between games, shooting under 30 percent from the floor while the Bulls have posted a 1-3 record. When they’ve had two days or more between games, Rose is shooting over 50 percent from the floor, including 50 percent from three-point range – and the Bulls are 4-0. The bad news for Chicago is they won't have more than one day of rest until a potential Game 7.
1) Cleveland needs two guys to produce off the bench for them to win
The biggest problem Cleveland is facing this series is their lack of depth, particularly with Love's injury. Getting Smith back will drastically help them in that regard, but that still leaves just two guys (Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova) who saw consistent minutes in the regular season. The Cavs won Game 2 because they got 17 points from James Jones, and they'll need to continue to get that kind of production from someone unexpected if they want to win.
Back to the Cleveland Cavaliers Newsfeed