Bulls hold off Cavaliers 86-85

Cleveland’s LeBron James had a chance to win the game against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night, but he missed a shot with 0.2 seconds left. The Bulls edged the Cavaliers 86-85 and improved  their shooting percentage to 42 percent. What’s more important is that the Bulls are winning games at the defensive end, something they were trying to improve on since the beginning of the season. Chicago point guard Derrick Rose said, “It’s huge. Our chemistry on offense isn’t really there yet. But you have time for that. On defense, if you can continue to stop people you’ll be fine.” With 1:44 remaining, Rose hit a floater and gave the Bulls a four point lead. 11 seconds later, James responded with a 3-pointer, which were Cleveland’s last points of the night. After that, the Bulls posted three straight stops. During that span, Chicago defended Mo Williams on a three point attempt and then denied James a chance at the hoop. Deng admitted that it was tough covering James. He said, “He’s a tough cover, but I knew my help would be there. I just couldn’t give him a straight-line drive.” Deng, who had 15 points, forced James to the left and Joakim Noah arrived to form a wall at the rim. James’ miss went out of bounds and Noah was delighted the ball didn’t go out off him.

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