Tyronn Lue says Cavs are out of shape after loss to Bulls

Alec Brzezinski

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Tyronn Lue says Cavs are out of shape after loss to Bulls image

Fans and coaches scoffing Cleveland's decision to fire David Blatt, despite having an Eastern Conference-best record, were vindicated Saturday when the Cavaliers lost 96-83 at home against the Bulls.

Things got so bad, in fact, that Cleveland fans started booing the team when they fell 17 points behind in the third quarter.

MORE: Predicting who will be on NBA All-Star benches

It was a nightmare game for new coach Tyronn Lue, who signed a three-year contract Friday. After promising different rotations to free up Kevin Love and get him more post looks, the Cavaliers ultimately just ran more isolation plays and watched as LeBron James took shots.

James had a big game, scoring 26 points with 13 rebounds and nine assists, but he went 0 for 5 from beyond the arc and once again sucked the life out of the offense with his stagnant iso plays.

"We just weren't able to make shots. I don't think we're in good enough shape," Lue said on ESPN. "We wanted to run the ball, push the floor, but LeBron came out early, Kevin came out early, so we're just not fit enough to play the fast-paced game we want to play.

"I think we play the second-slowest in the league pace wise, and the vision I have for this team is to play faster. We need to utilize LeBron and Kyrie (Irving)'s one-on-one capabilities and we just haven't been accustomed to playing that way."

Pau Gasol was the star of the night. The 7-foot Spaniard finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and six assists — all team highs. He was also a big part of Chicago's stifling defense that held Cleveland to 37 percent from the floor and 16.7 percent from 3-point range.

"This was a really nice way to bounce back from last night's loss. I'm really proud of my guys, the way we competed tonight and came out an played hard," Gasol said on ABC. "I wanted to come out and be aggressive early tonight. I felt like I got into a pretty good rhythm and shots fell for me.

"This was a really big win for us."

Jimmy Butler added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Bulls, but the unlikely production from small forward Nikola Mirotic proved the difference. Mirotic, who had scored just 17 points in his last four games combined, poured in 17 points off the bench to lift Chicago offensively.

The Bulls are now 2-0 against the Cavaliers this season.

DeMarcus Cousins is playing on another level:

There's been a lot of talk about the injustice of snubbing Draymond Green of an All-Star starters slot, and rightly so, because Green is having a tremendous season. But why isn't anyone talking about DeMarcus Cousins?

Simply put, Boogie has been on fire lately. After scoring 48 points and corralling 13 rebounds in a 108-97 win against the Pacers on Saturday, The Kings center now has 10 straight double-doubles. He's also scored over 30 points in eight of his last 11 games. With all due respect to the rest of the Western Conference's All-Star starters, Cousins deserved to be voted in.

Highlights:

Anthony Davis hates basketballs:

James can block shots too:

Archie Goodwin is making a name for himself in Phoenix:

Stud of the night:

Suns center Tyson Chandler has picked up the slack for Phoenix's ravaged lineup in a big way lately. After grabbing 20 rebounds against the Spurs on Thursday, the dominant center bettered that total in a dramatic 98-95 win against the Hawks. This time, Chandler scored 13 points and grabbed a season-high 27 rebounds. He also dished out five assists and blocked two shots. Phoenix ultimately won the game when Goodwin hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.1 second remaining.

Dud of night:

It appears Hack-a-Drummond had an effect on Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy. Andre Drummond was a controversial figure Wednesday when he missed 23 free throws in a win against the Rockets, so Saturday, instead of going through the constant intentional fouls again, Van Gundy benched Drummond in the fourth quarter. The end result? The Pistons lost 104-101 to the Nuggets and Drummond finished with just four points in 18 minutes on the court.

What's Next:

Mavericks (25-20) at Rockets (23-22) 3:30 p.m.: Dallas forward Chandler Parsons has been one of the hottest players in the league during his last two games, putting up 56 points on 7-pf-12 from beyond the arc during that time. James Harden is carrying Houston right now.

Clippers (28-15) at Raptors (28-15) 6 p.m.: J.J. Redick has been playing like he did in his Duke Blue Devil days lately, but All-Star starter Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan have been playing even better.

Alec Brzezinski