Last-second stop gives Bulls win
By TOM WITHERS – The Associated Press
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| The Bulls' Luol Deng (9) and Joakim Noah (13) stop Cleveland's LeBron James from scoring in the final seconds of the fourth quarter in the Bulls' 86-85 win in Cleveland on Thursday. (AP photo ) |
CLEVELAND – For a split second, LeBron James appeared to be on his way to bailing out the Cleveland Cavaliers once more.
Luol Deng and Joakim Noah put a stop to that.
The Bulls' forwards double teamed James and denied the superstar on a drive in the final seconds as the Bulls ended Cleveland's three-game winning streak with an 86-85 win Thursday night, the Cavaliers' second home loss already this season.
James thought there was sufficient bumping to get a foul called either on Deng or Noah.
The Bulls, and the officials, saw it differently.
"I didn't feel like it was even close to being a foul," said Noah, who left guarding Shaquille O'Neal on the decisive play to help his teammate. "I wasn't worried because there was no contact at all."
Derrick Rose had 14 points and 11 assists and John Salmons added 14 points for the Bulls, who dropped the Cavs to 1-2 at home. Cleveland didn't lose its second game at home last season until April 16 and went 45-3 at Quicken Loans Arena.
Down 86-85, the Cavaliers, who sputtered on offense all night, buckled down and made the defensive stop they needed by forcing a shot-clock violation. Cleveland called a full timeout and set up a play, but before they could inbound the ball, Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro called a 20-second timeout to reset his defense.
James took the pass and got a step on Deng in the lane. As he neared the basket, Noah came over and bumped James, who lost the ball as he elevated. It went out of bounds with two-tenths of a second left, and the referees awarded it to the Bulls. Just to make sure, they watched a video replay to confirm their call.
As they huddled at the scorer's table, James came over to give his view on the play.
After the horn, James made one last visit to officials Ron Garretson, Michael Smith and Eli Roe. There was nothing he could do at that point but shrug his shoulders and head to the locker room.
"It's a call you think you may get," James said. "I felt a push from Deng and some contact over the top from Noah. Enough to put me on the free throw line? Yes. But that's a judgment call for the officials."
Deng was confident someone would come to his aid.
"I knew my help would be there," he said. "I just couldn't give him a straight line drive. He's so good that you have to slow him down if he's going to drive. I knew Jo was coming with help."
James led the Cavaliers with 25 points. Shaquille O'Neal had 14 and 10 rebounds and Anderson Varejao added 12 with 13 boards. But Cleveland's offense never got into a flow and the Cavs didn't help themselves by going 12 of 20 on free throws.
"We had a chance to win at the end," O'Neal said. "If we limit some of our silly mistakes, we'll be fine."
Brad Miller scored 10 points and the Bulls reserves outscored Cleveland's 25-12 in a choppy game between the Central Division rivals.
"Neither team could make a shot," James said.
NOTES: Actor Jeremy Piven, who plays superagent Ari Gold on HBO's popular "Entourage" series, sat courtside. James made a cameo in last season's finale. ... Bulls F Tyrus Thomas played 12 minutes. He missed Tuesday's game and Wednesday's practice with the flu. He flew commercial to Cleveland after he was cleared by a doctor. "It was bad, helpless," Thomas said. "Fever, chills, vomiting, I couldn't eat. I'm better now."
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