Bulls get back to 'unselfish' ways in win against Cavs

Because the Bulls weren’t in the NBA Cup, they’ve played just four games over the past week and a half.

The lengthy layoff afforded the Bulls more practice time to reintegrate players and take a hard reset after a recent downturn, highlighted by a seven-game losing streak. The Bulls narrowly beat a young but exciting Hornets team on Friday and showcased better defensive intensity in Sunday’s loss against the Pelicans.

But competing and beating bottom dwellers isn’t enough to satisfy Bulls fans. Wednesday was the first of a rare baseball style two-game set against the Cavaliers, one of the favorites to come out the East.

The Bulls won 127-111 against the Cavs, their first home win in 25 days and first win against the Cavs in 658 days. It was the team’s largest margin of victory this season.The Bulls were more active defensively, made the proper defensive rotations and that communication against the Pelicans carried over into Wednesday’s game.

“Guys I think understood the level of sacrifice and kind of wanting to fulfill a role,” coach Billy Donovan said. “We got to try to get back to one, being whole, and then to trying to create our identity. [Tonight] is probably a lot closer to the way we played earlier in the year.”

The Bulls offense was also better than it was on Sunday. Coby White (25 points) and Josh Giddey — who finished with his sixth triple-double of the season and tied his career-high in threes (five) — were relentless attacking the rim and challenging shot-blocker Jarrett Allen or backup center Thomas Bryant. The Bulls thrive when the ball is whipping around the court and forcing rotations. They don’t have a singular star but thrive on their depth. Seven Bulls finished in double figures and the team dished out 35 assists.

The offense had 85 points at the 6:53 mark of the third quarter, a clear sign that it was humming. Even though the Bulls didn’t make a high amount of threes, the offense was still productive because of the countless drives, sucking in the Cavs defense and drawing a foul or finding a cutter at the rim.

“I think tonight was probably the most unselfish we played in a long time,” Giddey said. “Early on, when we were playing the right way and winning games, I thought we had multiple guys. That's when we're at our best as a team.”

The Bulls weren’t stagnant. Isaac Okoro had a couple of smart cuts to the basket and they were able to get the Cavaliers in rotation and thrive off it. Guard Tre Jones (11 points and 11 assists) was vital in keeping the ball moving, and the Cavs were very susceptible to back cuts.

What was also key for the Bulls was that they won the rebounding battle 43-40, kept turnovers low (15) and outscored Cleveland in transition 25-14. For the Bulls to play their preferred up-and-down style, rebounding is a vital part of that. The play style doesn’t work if the Bulls are constantly taking the ball out the net.

The Bulls will need to repeat their performance on Friday. White said Sunday that the team is running out of time to figure things out, and with the hole they dug themselves in, they'll need more performances like Wednesday.

“[The Cavs] are a really good team,” Giddey said. “They have championship aspirations. They'll respond the way they have to, and we basically it's up to us to come out and Cleveland to the first punch, you know, kind of carry off where we left from this game