Field Level Media
Mar 25, 2021
Darius Garland scored 22 points and distributed nine assists to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 103-94 victory over the host Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.
Jarrett Allen added 19 points and nine rebounds for Cleveland, which won for the third time in five games. Larry Nance Jr. posted a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Isaac Okoro finished with 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting.
Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 22 points on 8-for-20 shooting. Lauri Markkanen scored 17 points, while Tomas Satoransky and Coby White added 11 apiece.
The Bulls pulled within 82-80 on a 3-pointer by Ryan Arcidiacono with 9:10 left in the fourth quarter.
The Cavaliers responded with a 9-0 run to go ahead 91-80 -- their first double-digit lead of the game -- with 6:54 remaining. Garland made a layup to cap the run, prompting the Bulls to call timeout.
Chicago could not close the gap to fewer than seven points the rest of the way.
Cleveland outscored Chicago 25-17 during the third quarter to grab a 78-72 advantage heading into the final 12 minutes. The Cavaliers opened the third quarter on an 11-3 run.
Allen provided a highlight-reel play just after halftime when he caught a lob from Garland and threw down an alley-oop dunk. Allen had two more layups during the run, which also included a 3-pointer by Garland and a layup by Cedi Osman.
The Bulls led 55-53 at the half. LaVine had 18 points to lead all scorers, and Nance Jr. paced the Cavaliers with nine points.
Cleveland led by as many as eight points in the first quarter. Dean Wade made a pair of free throws to make it 20-12 with 4:32 remaining in the opening frame.
The Bulls closed the quarter on a 13-5 run to pull even at 25-all. LaVine made a 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds to go.
Neither team led by more than four points during a nip-and-tuck second quarter. Osman made a layup to make it 53-all with 51.6 seconds left, but Satoransky responded with a layup on the next possession to put the Bulls ahead at the half.
The Cavaliers played without several top players including Collin Sexton (sore right hamstring), Kevin Love (sore right calf), Taurean Prince (sprained left shoulder) and Andre Drummond (personal).