National Basketball Association
Chicago 98, Cleveland 94
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 26, 2022
Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, Ohio
Officials: #8 Marc Davis, #84 Jenna Schroeder, #68 Jacyn Goble
Attendance: 19432

The visiting Chicago Bulls used 25 points by Zach LaVine and 20 from DeMar DeRozan to hold off the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-94 on Saturday.

The Cavs (41-33) had a chance to move into a tie with Chicago (43-31) for fifth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race, but instead dropped to seventh, the first position in the play-in tournament. No. 6 Toronto (42-32) moved past Cleveland after its dominating win over Indiana.

The Cavs trailed by 19 points before making a furious comeback in the second half. Darius Garland paced Cleveland with a game-high 28 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Caris LeVert, making his second start of the season since coming to the Cavs at the trade deadline, added 17 points and Lauri Markkanen had 14 points and nine rebounds before fouling out.

Chicago led 95-83 with 1:12 to play before Garland and Evan Mobley made a late push, combining to score 11 points before coming up short.

Cleveland has now lost three in a row and six of its last nine.

The Bulls came into the contest having lost five of their last six.

Chicago held onto a 12-point advantage after three quarters, 75-63.

The Bulls left the Cavs in the dust in the first half, 53-35, as LaVine had 15 points.

Cleveland recorded its lowest point total in the first half all season. It shot just 31 percent from the field and 1 of 18 (5.6 percent) from the 3-point line. Garland was the only player in double figures in scoring with 14 points.

DeRozan was forced to the bench with about 8 minutes left in first half with three personal fouls. It didn't make a bit of difference.

Javonte Green's layup handed the Bulls a 12-point lead, 24-12, with 2:56 left in the first quarter.

Nikola Vucevic had 10 points to lead Chicago to a 28-16 advantage after the opening quarter. He finished with 16 points and nine rebounds.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Chicago   Cleveland
Zach LaVine 25 Scoring Darius Garland 28
Alex Caruso 7 Assists Darius Garland 5
Nikola Vucevic 9 Rebounds Evan Mobley 11
Zach LaVine 7 Free Throws Made Darius Garland 9
Alex Caruso 2 Steals Darius Garland 2
Nikola Vucevic 1 Blocks Kevin Love 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Chicago 98 48.0 5-21 21-25 23 37 1 6 15
Cleveland 94 41.5 7-31 19-27 17 46 3 7 13
Upcoming Games
  • Cleveland will play their next game at home against Orlando. The Cavaliers have a W/L % of .595 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Chicago will play their next game on the road against New York. The Bulls have a W/L % of .628 after a win and .516 after a loss.