The Bulls have been torched twice by LeBron James this season. But, really, it would be bigger news if the Bulls had found a way to stop Cleveland?s superstar, who turned 24 on Tuesday.
James scored 41 points in each of the Cavaliers? victories back in November, giving him a higher scoring average against the Bulls than any other NBA opponent. James hit 26 of 52 shots in the two games, to go with a combined 22 rebounds and 10 assists. When the teams meet again tonight in Cleveland, the Bulls will have a different defensive look ready for James. That?s because forward Luol Deng, who usually gets the nearly impossible assignment of guarding James, is out with a sprained ankle and not expected to play this weekend.
That means former Cavs guard Larry Hughes and 6-foot-7 Thabo Sefolosha will spend the night trying to prevent James from throwing down some of the Nerf-hoop dunks he?s unleashed several times already against the Bulls.
"I?m ready," Hughes said. "I don?t have a problem with it. He?s definitely a tough match for anybody in this league. You go out and try to cut off some of the things he likes to do. It?s just a Basketball game."
Cleveland (26-5) is 16-0 at Quicken Loans Arena this season, but hasn?t been quite as sharp lately. The Cavs lost Tuesday at Miami and had to rally in the fourth quarter in their previous two home games against the Heat and Wizards.
But the Bulls saw firsthand how angry Orlando was after losing at Detroit two days earlier. The Magic stomped on the Bulls 113-94 on Wednesday, but held a lead closer to 30 points most of the afternoon.
As bad as they were on defense, the Bulls? offense was even worse against Orlando. They went 2-for-20 in the first half on jumpers from 15 feet and beyond.
"I wasn?t ready, my teammates weren?t ready to play and it?s not acceptable," guard Ben Gordon said. "Regardless if we?re making shots or whatever, we?ve got to come ready to play every night."
A loss tonight would drop the Bulls (14-18) a season-low 5 games below .500. But they?ll start a five-game homestand Saturday, and the opponents include the league?s four worst teams as of Thursday morning. Minnesota (6-25) visits the United Center on Saturday, followed by Sacramento (8-24), Washington (6-24), Oklahoma City (4-29) and finally Portland (20-12).
"There?s still a lot of time for us to become consistent," Hughes said. "I think if we can do that, if we can key in on things that work for us, it?s not really far-fetched (to make the playoffs). If we want to just sneak into the playoffs, that?s something different. But if want to kind of position ourselves to get a decent seed and go in with a focus of winning some games, then we have to pick it up right now."
Bull horns: Forward Drew Gooden may be ready to play tonight after missing six games with a sprained right ankle. ... Derrick Rose dropped from seventh to eighth place among East guards in all-star voting returns released Thursday.
