Cleveland Cavaliers’ Bench Buries the Chicago Bulls

After splitting the first four games of the Eastern Conference semi-finals Lebron carried Cleveland to a huge win in Game 5 and the Cavaliers bench buried the Bulls in Chicago to clinch the series in six games.

The most anticipated Eastern Conference matchup of the 2015 playoffs ended in the most unceremonious fashion on Thursday night. The Cleveland Cavaliers put a struggling Chicago Bulls team out of their misery, heading the Bulls their largest elimination game defeat in team history.

There are so many storylines that come from the Chicago fallout, but the controversy surrounding Rose, Thibodeau and company is nothing new. The Cavaliers, however, rose from the ashes of lottery after lottery in the wake of Lebron James leaving for Miami, only to see him return years later. And now, they are surging into the Eastern Conference Finals, facing either of two unsteady opponents, the Atlanta Hawks or Washington Wizards, for a place in the Finals.

In Game 5 Lebron went into NBA 2K “Hall of Fame” mode, scoring 38 points with 12 rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks with zero turnovers. The zero turnover stat was a first in the 2014-15 season for James.

But even the phenomenal play of James might not have been enough without the contributions of the Cavaliers unlikely bench mob. No Cavs starters had a positive plus/minus rating in the victory on their homecourt, the leaders in that category were bench players J.R. Smith (+18), Matthew Dellavedova (+11) and James Jones (+8).

Cleveland got a lot of important contributions out of the usual suspects, James and guard Kyrie Irving. However, the biggest difference for Cleveland in this series was bringing Tristan Thompson into the starting lineup after Game 1 and letting him get to work against Chicago’s interior.

After the Cavs’ stars led the team early in the series, it was the role players who finished it off. In the process of coming back from a 2-1 deficit in the series to win three straight and eliminate Chicago, Cleveland was forced to show its hand, and maybe even surprised itself. Smith hitting three consecutive three-point shots to bring the Cavs from a deficit early in the fourth quarter of game 4, which was a must win for Cleveland, was the first big moment.

After Smith’s hot shooting helped the Cavs even the series, it was Dellavedova’s crafty leg-lock in Game 5 that sent Bulls forward Taj Gibson to the showers early. Without Gibson, and still missing Pau Gasol, Chicago was forced to lean heavily on Joakim Noah, and were unable to pair him with another big to combat the Mozgov/Thompson combination. And while Smith, Dellavedova, Thompson and Jones all thrived when on the court, the Bulls watched Nikola Mirotic, Kirk Hinrich, and Aaron Brooks get picked apart.

But Game 6 is where things got really bad for Chicago. The Bulls were beaten by Cleveland, 94-73. Lebron only scored 15 points on 7-for-23 shooting and Kyrie Irving played just 12 minutes. How then did the Cavaliers utterly dismantle their nemesis on the Bulls own court? J.R. Smith played 33 minutes, had 8 assists and shot 50 percent from three-point range. But J.R. Smith wasn’t alone.

One game earlier, Dellavedova played the instigator, and it worked. In Game 6, Dellavedova stepped in to a bunch of minutes left empty in the absence of Irving and went for 19 points in 34 minutes, shooting 50 percent from three-point range, just like Smith.

And then there was James Jones, a name of minor ridicule when speaking about pieces on a championship team. Jones shot 50 percent from three-point range.

Smith, Dellavedova and Jones combined to shoot the lights out against the Chicago Bulls, each going 3-for-6 from three-point range, a combined 9-for-18. The entire Chicago team combined to shoot just 4-for-20 from deep in Game 6.

It wasn’t just the shooting of the Cleveland bench mob that helped, but the terrific inside play of Tristan Thompson as well. It didn’t matter if he was finishing an and-one while getting submarined by Mike Dunleavy, or going a perfect 5-for-5 from the line, Thompson was a pivotal piece in how the Cavaliers turned this series around after going down 1-0 and 2-1 down. Thompson was the rebounding machine that the Cavs needed. In each game of the series, the team that won the rebounding battle ended up going home with the win. At one point in the second half, the rebounding tally was Chicago 12 – Thompson 10. By himself, he was battling, crashing, hustling and winning all the battles inside.

Right now, the Chicago story may have more intriguing plots that lie ahead, but the Cavaliers are the ones who are advancing. Lebron James is having moments that only Lebron James can have, but it has been the adjustments to the lineup and the inspired bench play that gave Cleveland the extra edge they needed to eliminate their adversary and move into the conference finals.