NBA Matchups: December 17

CLE @ CHI | MEM @ MIN

Cleveland Cavaliers at Chicago Bulls

Team Totals: Cavs 123.3, Bulls 118.8

Injury Report: Ayo Dosunmu (Q, thumb), Evan Mobley (O, calf)

Cavs projected starters: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, De’Andre Hunter, Dean Wade, Jarrett Allen

Bulls projected starters: Josh Giddey, Coby White, Isaac Okoro, Matas Buzelis, Nikola Vucevic

Atkinson quotes: Said they couldn’t create advantages in OT, said he liked the group they had at the end and “you find something like this” on the small-ball look, said Garland “broke through” and “he was starting to find it” after some struggles, said Garland was battling through the toe injury (sounds like he’s still fighting through it again), said Wade “can hold his own at the 5,” said they haven’t explored bringing De’Andre Hunter off the bench and they may need to figure out how to get him back in a better groove.

Donovan quotes: Said they played the right way against the Pelicans and moved the ball well, said “we have to work to find our rhythm” with guys coming back from injury, said he likes Coby White getting 10 3PAs up, said he thinks their shot distribution against the Pelicans is sustainable, said they were good at attacking the switches against the Pelicans and they just missed too many good looks, said they need to mix in some threes with their 3-point volume.

Stats and Notes: 

*The Cavs are one of the most disappointing teams in the Eastern Conference, and they really missed Evan Mobley on Sunday. They were a terrible offense against the lowly Hornets, and they didn’t have any success on the boards. Their defense is about the same with Mobley on/off, but their PNR handler defense likely gets a whole lot worse because of his ability to switch. They will also play smaller a lot more, especially based on Kenny Atkinson’s comments about playing Dean Wade at the 5. It should make them a lot weaker inside, and they likely won’t be the No. 2 PNR handler defense while Mobley is out. This Bulls offense needs all the help it can get with the last-ranked offense in their last eight games. They are not rebounding, they’re losing their grip in pace, and they’re below average in transition frequency over this span. On the other side, the Bulls just get killed at the basket like nobody’s business, but the Cavs just don’t have the rim pressure this year. Cleveland had better get right in this one.