Recapping the Chicago Bulls: Another collapse ends with a 97-89 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers to cap a winless 3-game trip

CLEVELAND — The 97-89 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday was not the Chicago Bulls’ worst of the season, nor the ugliest, nor the most costly. But the second-half collapse highlighted the lack of mettle plaguing the Bulls as they slipped further below .500.

The Cavaliers played in New Orleans on Friday in a game that ended past midnight Eastern time, and they looked physically fatigued from the opening whistle Saturday. Yet that didn’t stop them from outhustling the Bulls in the second half and extending the visitors’ losing streak to three games.

• The Bulls seem to follow only one script when they take an early lead against an opponent — buoy hope through the first half, then sink it in the third quarter. They repeated the pattern Saturday, fumbling a nine-point halftime margin. DeMar DeRozan carried the Bulls in the third with 10 points while Zach LaVine didn’t score. The Bulls gave up seven turnovers in the quarter. Although the Bulls led 74-69 heading to the fourth, it was clear they had lost any momentum.
• The third quarter was bad. The fourth was worse. The Bulls allowed a 22-4 Cavs run to open the quarter and were outscored 28-15while coughing up four turnovers. LaVine scored nine points in the fourth and finished with 23, , but it wasn’t enough. DeRozan added 16 points and Nikola Vučević had 14 points and 14 rebounds.
• Donovan Mitchell didn’t quite replicate his last performance against the Bulls at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse — he scorched them for a career-high 71 points on Jan. 2 — but his second half Saturday fueled the Cavaliers. Mitchell splashed a 3-pointer with 9:54 left in the game for a 76-74 Cavs lead, their first since the first quarter, in the decisive run. He finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

• The Bulls bench produced little offense, tallying 17 points. Coby White (four points) went 1-for-9 from the field and 0-for-4 from 3-point range. Andre Drummond was the only bench player to provide meaningful offense, scoring eight, but he had four turnovers.

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• The Bulls started the game on a promising note, going 9-for-11 against the best defense of the league and finishing the half with a 49-40 lead. They registered 18 assists on their 22 made baskets while shooting 55% from the field before halftime. Patrick Williams stood out, opening the game with a 3-pointer, a transition dunk and a reverse layup in the first six minutes. He finished with 13 points.
• The Bulls outshot the Cavaliers 48.6% to 41.9%. The Cavs struggled to finish shots despite rallying down the stretch, but they were better from 3-point range (25.7% to the Bulls’ 23.8%).

Turnovers defined the matchup in an outright sloppy performance by the Bulls. They had 11 that led to nine Cavaliers points in the first half, then coughed up seven in the third quarter. The Bulls were lucky the Cavaliers weren’t more efficient, scoring only 21 points on their season-high 23 total turnovers.

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”It’s been (56) games and we still haven’t figured it out. It’s obviously a concern. The more time goes by, the less time you have to figure it out. We keep dropping games like that, we might drop out of the play-in too.”

— Vučević after the Bulls went 0-3 on their trip despite leading all three entering the fourth quarter. They have 26 regular-season games remaining.

The Bulls (26-30) dropped to 10th place in the Eastern Conference, only a half-game ahead of the Toronto Raptors.

The Bulls return home to play the Orlando Magic on Monday, then travel to Indiana to face the Pacers on Wednesday.