Game Summary
The Cavaliers (39-29) round out their six-game roadie on Saturday with a stop in the Windy City as they take on their Central Division rivals, the Chicago Bulls (24-44), for the final time this season. Tipoff from the United Center is at 8:00 p.m. (ET).
After falling to the Portland Trail Blazers, 113-105, on Wednesday night in the penultimate contest of their six-game road trip, the Cavaliers are looking to break even against the Chicago Bulls and head back to The Land on Monday night with a 3-3 record during the roadie.
Cavs Visit Bulls
From where to catch all the action to Saturday's game notes, Cavs.com has you covered.
FOX Sports Ohio
WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 FM La Mega
Joe G.'s guide to a victory.
Learn more about Saturday's matchup.
Join Wine & Gold Nation and get into the convo.
Despite being unable to complete the comeback Thursday night in PDX, the Cavaliers had a pretty impressive night from the floor, especially from beyond the arc. With their 11 treys against the Blazers, the Cavs have now made the second-most three-pointers in the NBA (202), while ranking third in three-point percentage (.391) and fourth overall from the entire floor (.495).
Overall, Cleveland shot 41-80 (.513) from the field in Portland and tallied 18 fast break points versus the Trail Blazers. The Wine & Gold are averaging 17.0 fast break points through the first five games of the road trip.
From an individual perspective, LeBron James posted a stellar performance against the Blazers, which included an attention-grabbing slam dunk over Jusuf Nurkic in the first quarter. By the final buzzer, James became the sixth active player to record 400 career double-doubles after notching 35 points and 14 boards in 41 minutes. LBJ now joins Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Zach Randolph, Chris Paul and Dirk Nowitzki as the only six active players to accomplish that feat.
Kyle Korver continued his hot shooting on Thursday, nailing three triples and recording 19 points on 7-13 (.538) from the field to go along with two rebounds, a steal and a block in 38 minutes.
James, Korver and the rest of the Wine & Gold squad are looking to head back to The Land on a high note when they take on a struggling Bulls team in their final game of this roadie.
Finnish forward Lauri Markkanen, a rookie out of Arizona, has been a bright spot for Chicago this season with his knack for finding the basket from almost anywhere on the court. In fact, Markkanen is averaging 14.9 points per game, and is shooting .426 from the floor over 60 games played.
Markkanen and Co. are 4-3 in their last seven games after their club dropped 15 of 17 from January 22 to February 27. Chi-Town was able snatch a win in their latest contest over the Memphis Grizzlies, edging their opponent, 111-110. In the win, point guard Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 20 points while Bobby Portis knocked down 17 off the bench.
Where to Catch the Action
TV: FOX Sports Ohio
Radio: WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 La Mega
Programming Note: On Saturday, FOX Sports Ohio is airing the Blue Jackets – Senators game (7:00 p.m.) and the Cavs – Bulls game (8:00 p.m.). To view TV listings, CLICK HERE.
For live in-game updates, follow @cavs, @CavsJoeG, @CavsFredMcLeod, @MrCavalier34, @CavsJMike and @chones22 on Twitter.
Probable Starters/Status Update*
#81 - Jose Calderon
#3 - George Hill
#23 - LeBron James
#32 - Jeff Green
#41 - Ante Zizic
G
G
F
F
C
#32 - Kris Dunn
#8 - Zach LaVine
#7 - Justin Holiday
#30 - Noah Vonleh
#42 - Robin Lopez
Status Update: (Cavs) - Kevin Love, (Left hand fracture, Out), Larry Nance Jr., (Right hamstring soreness, TBD), Cedi Osman, (Left hip strain, Out), Tristan Thompson, (Right ankle strain, Out), Kyle Korver, (Personal reasons, NWT), Rodney Hood, (Low back strain, Out)
Status Update: (Bulls) - Paul Zipser, (Left foot pain, Probable), Lauri Markkanen, (Back spasms, NWT)
*Subject to change.
Head-to-Head Matchup
As mentioned, Saturday's contest between the Cavaliers and Bulls will be the fourth, and final time the two divisional rivals square off this season. Cleveland leads the 2017-18 season series versus Chicago, 3-0.
In the three wins against the Bulls this campaign, the Cavs have won by an average of 10.7 points (115.7-105.0), while shooting .516 from the field, .398 from long range and .852 from the charity stripe. They are also averaging 25.0 assists and 13.7 threes made per game in the three meetings.
Cleveland will look to sweep a four-game season series against Chicago for the first time since 2005-06. The Cavs have swept the Bulls just four times in their team history (4-0 in 1975-76, 6-0 in 1988-89, 3-0 in 1998-99 and 4-0 in 2005-06).
After Saturday's St. Patrick's Day showdown, Cleveland will round out their Central Division play on Monday when they welcome the Milwaukee Bucks to town. Currently they are 9-5 in 14 games played against the Central and are outscoring their opponents 113.2 to 106.6.
On Deck
As mentioned, following the Wine & Gold's contest with Chicago, they'll return to The Land on Monday to start a three-game homestand, beginning with a showdown against the Milwaukee Bucks. Tipoff from The Q is at 7:00 p.m. (ET). Cleveland will then do battle with the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, March 21 and Phoenix Suns on Friday, March 23 before hitting the road once again for three-straight games.