A loss to the 16-27 Cleveland Cavaliers for a team with postseason aspirations is bad. A loss to the 16-27 Cleveland Cavaliers who are missing their best player and leading scorer, Collin Sexton, is really really bad. Oh, and then throw in the fact that this win tied the Cavaliers second-largest margin of victory on the season (h/t Jeff Mangurten) and … yeah … it’s just downright freakin’ awful.
From start to finish this Bulls team laid an egg. The new starting lineup that is supposed to stabilize things began the game down 19-12 to this depleted Cavs squad, and it pretty much set the tone for the rest of the game. That’s about all I want to say about the game itself. We can get more into tomorrow.
On a broader note, this is is arguably the worst way the Bulls could have finished the pre-trade-deadline season. I’m sure one specific loss isn’t going to dictate exactly what this front office decides to do tomorrow, but there is no question this game can headline the “reasons to make moves NOW” pile on Arturas Karnisovas’ desk. This roster just ain’t it folks, and I’m not sure any more evaluation is needed to see that. The infrastructure has been upgraded, and now it’s time to start the roster.
Let’s see if the process starts tomorrow.
Check out the full box score here.