Photo: Joshua Gunter/The Plain Dealer

In a best of seven series, the third game is always when the underdog has the best chance at winning the game. Down 2-0, it's also the last chance they have at making it a series. The Chicago Bulls played with an intensity not yet seen from them by the Cavaliers, and while Derrick Rose once again led the charge, it was the performances of Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng that allowed Chicago to take a big lead early and extend it to a 21 point lead in the third quarter. Cavalier fans were subjected to watching their team sleepwalk through nearly three whole quarters, until the late third quarter wake-up. The Cavaliers were able to cut the Bulls' lead to just one late in the ballgame, but some tough officiating breaks and missed free throws prevented them from pulling off a tremendous comeback and virtually deciding the outcome of this series. Instead, the Bulls have new life and have to like their position heading into Game 4.

There is almost always a nice start for the underdog in Game 3, but the Bulls' jump out of the gate was extraordinary. After missing their first five shots, Chicago sent in 13-of-18 shots to finish the first quarter. Kirk Hinrich, who shot just 6-of-18 for 13 points in two games in Cleveland, more than evened those figures out with 9-of-12 shooting and 27 points. Several have identified Hinrich as the true barometer of the Bulls, and I whole-heartedly agree with that sentiment. When he's hitting, the smaller Bull backcourt can be a handful, and when he's not,  they're manageable. Luol Deng picked things up too (12-of-30, 32 points in Cleveland) with 20 points on 9-of-16 from the field. Not only were these guys hitting their jumpshots, but the Cavaliers' defense was helping them out by giving them nice wide-open looks. Derrick Rose opened the game by absolutely slashing Mo Williams and then Delonte West to bits with 15 first quarter points and creating other open looks with his dribble drives. Mo had a rough start with no shot attempts, two silly and forced turnovers, and porous D on Rose in the first.

Photo: Joshua Gunter/The Plain Dealer

After feeling each other out in Game 1, the Bulls knew this was their opportunity to deliver a punch in the mouth to the Cavs if they wanted to make this series interesting. Chicago played really well, turning the ball over just four times, scoring 56 points in the paint, and getting three of their players to score 20+ points. The only problem is the Cavaliers had a spectacular fourth quarter led by Jamario Moon's clutch three point shooting up against the shot clock and LeBron's dazzling, dominant jumpshot clinic, and the wine and gold were able to overcome a mostly disappointing defensive effort. After the game, there were plenty of noteworthy quotes, giving us a preview of what remains an entertaining and intriguing series heading to Chicago for game three.

Starting out, the Cavaliers were 10-of-19 in the first quarter, but they led by just six because despite Chicago's 9-for-26 effort, they showed they were not going to be dominated on the boards once again. LeBron had a strong first quarter, capped off by one of his most powerful playoff slams ever. The victim, rookie James Johnson, did not play much in Game 1, but Coach Vinny Del Negro went to him early in Game 2. Johnson played LeBron tight, even when James was 35 feet from the basket, and the end result was LeBron getting mad and taking it to Johnson by swooping a reverse layup in, converting said dunk, and drawing a foul on him and sinking both freebies. Johnson isn't the first and won't be the last victim of LeBron's grueling game.

Photo: John Kuntz/Cleveland.com

There were several questions surrounding the Cavaliers and their self-imposed limp into the playoffs. To their credit, though, they smoothed out some rough spots, and Shaquille O'Neal re-inserted himself into the starting lineup almost seamlessly as the wine and gold held serve in game one. In addition to Shaq's strong effort, the team used balanced scoring, dominant rebounding, and tough defense on nearly everybody to get the job done. I say nearly everybody because Chicago's Derrick Rose had a nice effort with 28 points, but it was not even close to enough for the underdog Bulls.

In the first meeting between these two teams at full strength, it was clear that the Cavaliers don't have much to worry about if they play their game. The Cavs used a strong first quarter as they often do to flex their muscles and gets a raucous Q crowd into the game. Wasting no time, the top seed got their pivot back into the fold with looks underneath, and he responded well. Shaq had 7 first quarter points and 3 rebounds, making 3 of his 4 shot attempts. The Witness Protector showed off his newfound trim frame by running the floor well and beating Joakim Noah down the floor for a dunk after a Noah missed shot. Shaq also altered multiple shots as he had some wiggle room on physical play. On the other hand, he drew multiple fouls and had a part in creating the Bulls' frontcourt foul trouble, with Noah, Gibson, and Miller all picking up three first half fouls. In fact, all the Cavaliers' main scoring options were doing work in the first quarter with LeBron playing primarily a distribution role and Shaq, Jamison, and Mo all having at least 7 points.

Season statistics in four game series (series tied 2-2).

Cavaliers

LeBron James - 3 games, 25.7 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 47.3% FG
Mo Williams - 4 games, 19.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 45% FG, 45% 3PT
Antawn Jamison - 2 games, 12.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 48% FG
Shaquille O'Neal - 2 games, 11 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3 blocks
Anthony Parker - 4 games, 7.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 50% 3PT
Delonte West - 3 games, 4 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists
Anderson Varejao - 4 games, 8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.8 blocks
Zydrunas Ilgauskas - 3 games, 6.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.3 blocks
J.J. Hickson - 4 games, 4.5 points, 2.8 rebounds
Jamario Moon - 2 games, 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1.5 assists
Jawad Williams - 2 games, 6.5 points, 4 rebounds
Leon Powe - 1 game, 7 points, 8 rebounds
Daniel Gibson -  2 games, 11.5 points, 77% FG, 60% 3PT
Danny Green - 2 games, 1.5 points
Sebastian Telfair -  1 game, 8 points, 3 assists

With the NBA playoffs set to begin tomorrow afternoon, here is this writer's opinion of how things will shake out in the upcoming two months.

First Round

(1) Cavaliers over (8) Bulls in five
(2) Magic over (7) Bobcats in six 
(3) Hawks over (6) Bucks in five
(5) Heat over (4) Celtics in seven

(1) Lakers over (8) Thunder in six
(2) Mavericks over (7) Spurs in six
(3) Suns over (6) Blazers in four
(4) Nuggets over (5) Jazz in six

Second Round

(1) Cavaliers over (5) Heat in six
(2) Magic over (3) Hawks in six

(1) Lakers over (4) Nuggets in six
(2) Mavericks over (3) Suns in six

Conference Finals

(1) Cavaliers over (2) Magic in seven
(1) Lakers over (2) Mavericks in seven

NBA Finals
(1) Cavaliers over (1) Lakers in six

Photo: Gregory Smith/AP

In the final chapter of the 2009-2010 regular season, the Cleveland Cavaliers were about as timid and punchless as they've been in the last several years. It was mostly by design though, as Coach Mike Brown sat LeBron for the fourth straight game to close out the regular season and added Mo Williams for the second time this week. Shaquille O'Neal's return was postponed for game one of the playoffs, and both Antawn Jamison and Anderson Varejao played exclusively in the first half. The Hawks, who played only Marvin Williams out of their top six players, had the home energy and role players that responded to it. Seven Hawks were in double digits, and they set out to make a bench highlight film with their third seed in the East already clinched.

Jawad Williams and Delonte West filled the starting spots that they have manned for a decent part of the past week. The wine and gold had just two players reach double figures, led by Jamario Moon's 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting and 7 rebounds. Hanging tough early, the Cavs trailed by just two at halftime. However, several things compounded on the Cavaliers offensively. First, they were nearly shutout from behind the arc for the first time all season. Moon saved them with a fourth quarter three with the Cavaliers hitting just 1 of their 14 attempts. Coupled with their horrific 20-of-36 from the foul line (56%, wrapping up the worst percentage in the league at 72%), the team was wildly inefficient offensively and shot 43% overall. Taking a team's top four offensive options out of play is the prime cause for this, but there are capable guys on this team who can create, but some of them struggled tonight. Delonte West, usually a top performer in these situations, was held to 6 points on 2-of-7 shooting in 25 minutes. Jawad Williams shot just 1-of-6 for 4 points, and 'Tawn and Andy each had 7 points in their limited first half action. Really, the only two guys doing much of anything offensively were Jamario and J.J. Hickson, who had 14 points and 6 boards. These two were active with highlight dunks and solid cuts to the basket. Other than that, it was pretty vanilla for the Cavalier offense.

Photo: Joshua Gunter/Cleveland.com

Getting rest for a team that’s wrapped everything up regular season wise is a good thing. But, Mike Brown according to many people is pushing those limits. Brown sat LeBron James for the third straight game, and Anthony Parker joined him as the Cavaliers withheld from using their full arsenal against a team in the Orlando Magic that they are almost certain to face again. Beyond that, the Cavaliers had perhaps even less concern about actually winning this game than in Chicago or against Indiana. Both Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison sat the entire fourth quarter as the Magic turned it on from three point land and Dwight Howard cleaned up on the inside with no Shaq to defend him. The wine and gold have now lost three games in a row with one more possible tune-up before the real deal begins.

Things started about as well as the Cavs could have hoped. Cleveland, led by Mo and ‘Tawn, made the Magic defense look downright laughable early. Jamario Moon made another start along with Jawad Williams, who filled in for Parker, sitting out his first game all season. Moon did his part to make it business as usual. First, he carried out LeBron’s chalk ceremony, then he mimicked a LeBron steal and breakaway dunk early in the first quarter. Dwight Howard had three early and easy dunks, but he picked up two early fouls and went to the bench prematurely along with his fellow frontcourt mate Rashard Lewis. Stan Van Gundy was fuming over on the sidelines with comments such as, “Mo’s going to try and get 40, Jamison’s going to try and get 40…”, and Orlando looked quite steamed that they were having such trouble with Cavalier Lite.

For the second straight night, winning took a back seat to role players finding their rhythm and, above all, keeping the core healthy. Tonight, Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison joined LeBron James in taking a seat for the festivities, giving the wine and gold just ten bodies to play combined with the injuries to Shaquille O'Neal and Daniel Gibson. What we saw, just as last night, was a surprising amount of efficient, attacking offense and an equally startling lack of effort on the defensive end. The fold resulted in an end of the team's 11 game win streak against Indiana in Cleveland and their 11 game winning streak at The Q. Other than that, it was a highly entertaining contest that gave some non-traditional heavy minutes guys time to shine.

With Mo, LBJ, and 'Tawn all sitting, Delonte West returned from back spasms to start along with Jamario Moon and Leon Powe, making their first and second starts of the season respectively. Normally the sixth man, Anderson Varejao was one of the last players into the game along with Danny Green as Sebastian Telfair, Jawad Williams, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas all checked in prior to that. Other than Green with just nine minutes, the other eight guys played at least 18 minutes as many of them are almost interchangeable (Jawad/Moon/Parker, Powe/Hickson, etc.). The result was everyone giving the effort as if they were truly involved in the game, and every played scored a field goal except for Green.

Photo: Nam Y. Huh/AP

Mike Brown was very statesmanlike leading up to this game, saying that he wanted to give the Chicago Bulls the same opportunity for victory (and defeat) as the Toronto Raptors had on Tuesday night. In the end, though, the opportunity to rest LeBron James was just too tempting, and while LeBron sat, the "non-LeBrons" still gave a national television audience quite a game. Mo Williams had his highest scoring game of the year, and the Cavaliers got some solid contributions from a couple of guys who had been buried on the bench recently. Down one with the final possession, both shots came from Anderson Varejao from beyond 15 feet, and that's generally not a recipe for success, as Andy misfired on both and the Bulls pulled to even with the Raptors for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.

LeBron James sat for the third time this season, but the way the wine and gold played for most of the game, it wasn't as easy to detect. The Cavaliers had no problem scoring, and this was a great opportunity for Mo and Antawn Jamison to get a bunch of solid, primary-option offensive looks. Mo wasted no time in the first quarter, scoring 9 points and handing out 4 assists. But, the Bulls packed quite a punch at the point guard spot last night with Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich. Sure, Hinrich plays primarily shooting guard as a starter, but he does back up Rose at times, and with the way the offense ran through him at times, I think he could be considered a point. The defending rookie of the year is always big trouble for Mo Williams to cover, so the real problem was that Hinrich had such a fantastic game after having a few lackluster performances against the Cavs this season. Rose had a double-double with 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting and 10 assists, and Kirk had 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting with 9 of those coming in the second quarter surge that gave the Bulls a lead midway through the quarter.

Photo: Joshua Gunter/The Plain Dealer

Someone must have forgotten to inform the Cavalier players and coaching staff that their playoff positioning was completely decided. It was business as usual for the wine and gold, who set a season-high for assists and played just eight guys for nearly the entire game with seven reaching double digit scoring. The Raptors lost Chris Bosh in the game's first two minutes, and consequently they were dominated in the paint by the Cavaliers, who welcomed back Anderson Varejao from a hamstring injury that cost him the last four games. Toronto and Cleveland may meet in two weeks when the playoffs begin, but both Charlotte and Chicago remain possibilities sitting in the seventh and ninth spots respectively.

Other than Delonte West sitting for precautionary reasons with back spasms, Mike Brown played this one as if he did not want to give the Raps anything to build on confidence-wise. The starters all got around their regular number of minutes, and Brown did not extend the rotation to nine or ten players as I thought he might. Jamario Moon, Leon Powe, and Danny Green all got brief playing time at the end, while Daniel Gibson did not play due to an apparent mid-foot sprain that was not reported pre-game. At least the wine and gold made the most of it, notching the win and helping to extend Charlotte's lead on Toronto in the seventh spot to three games. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want any part of the Bobcats. Thankfully, barring a downright collapse from Charlotte, it is looking less likely.