The Cleveland Cavaliers started the season as NBA title favorites, and after a rocky start to the season, they enter the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and are still the betting favorites to win the title.
The Chicago Bulls started the season as one of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference and were expected to face the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals, but after dealing with a rash of injuries that seemed to affect everyone on their roster, they were barely able to grab the No. 3 seed.
Cleveland won the regular season series between these two teams 3-1.
Projected Starting Lineups
(2) Cleveland Cavaliers (53-29)
G Kyrie Irving – 21.7 ppg, 5.2 apg
G J.R. Smith – 12.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg
F LeBron James – 25.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 7.4 apg
F Tristan Thompson – 7.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg
C Timofey Mozgov– 10.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg
(3) Chicago Bulls (50-32)
G Derrick Rose – 17.7 ppg, 4.9 apg
G Jimmy Butler – 20.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg
F Mike Dunleavy – 9.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg
F Pau Gasol – 18.5 ppg, 11.8 rpg
C Joakim Noah – 7.2 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 4.7 apg
What to watch for:
How will Cleveland play without Kevin Love?
Love is out for four to six months after dislocating his shoulder in the series finale against the Boston Celtics. The Cavs played a lot of fourth quarters without him during the regular season as the rift between him, head coach David Blatt, and LeBron James grew, but he was playing extremely well in the playoffs before the injury. Now Cleveland loses nearly 17 points and 10 rebounds per game they'll have to get from somewhere else, while having an even shorter bench.
Derrick Rose’s health and aggressiveness
After a slow start to the season, Rose finally started to show the aggressiveness that made him the 2011 MVP prior to the All-Star break, but another knee injury sidelined him again until a few weeks ago. Rose has struggled in the first round series when he had only one day to rest between games, shooting under 30 percent from the floor while the Bulls have posted a 1-2 record. When they’ve had two days between games, Rose is shooting 54 percent from the floor, including 50 percent from three-point range – and the Bulls are 3-0. Chicago needs him to produce a high rate in every single game if they're going to win this series.
Prediction: Cavs win 4-3
Cleveland was the favorite to win this series with Love, but the series is now a toss up with him out and J.R. Smith being suspended for the first two games. However, the difference in this series will be the Cavs' stellar play at home, where they've only lost once since January 7th.
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