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.

Things went from bad to worse at the start of the third when the Cavs failed to bring anymore intensity out of the locker room and were victims of a 12-2 Bulls run to push the lead to 21, their largest of the game. But, something had finally clicked for the Cavs, and they woke up, realizing that they were not going to be able to cruise all the way to the end of the third and simply turn the heat up in the final quarter. As a result, the wine and gold made a lightning quick 13-0 run, cutting the lead to eight, in the span of about three minutes. LeBron got more aggressive instead of settling for so many bogged-down, terrible looks and scored the last eight points of the quarter. Still, after cutting it to just eight, the Bulls maintained their eleven point halftime lead after three.

Going back to small ball once again, the Cavs had a decision to make when Anderson Varejao picked up his fifth foul with 9:36 to play. Luckily for them, Joakim Noah picked up his fifth just thirty seconds later and the Cavs went incredibly small with LeBron James playing center. The small lineup worked incredibly well because the team used it from that point on until 38 seconds to go in the game when Andy re-entered and then fouled out. The Cavs cut the lead down to just one, but never overcame that hurdle to take the lead. Even with 38 points in the fourth, including 13 from LeBron, 11 from 'Tawn, and 7 from Mo, the Bulls held on by a narrow thread. They did so with some officiating help and smart strategy.

With 1:17 remaining, my wish for bodily harm upon Monty McCutchen and his officiating crew reached an all-time high. LeBron drove into Luol Deng and was called for an offensive foul. This came with Deng standing at almost a ninety degree angle and falling away from James after cutting off his driving lane. It was a call that wasn't even close to being correct, and the worst part of it was it had a direct result on the outcome of the game. Down six, James's shot went in and would've set up an opportunity to cut the lead to only three. Instead, the Bulls took that six point lead and stretched it to eight and made the Cavaliers hit two incredible threes to give themselves a chance at the end.

It didn't help that LeBron was also stripped by the Deng-Noah combo on the next possession, an eerie recollection to the one-point loss in the Q at season's start where LeBron didn't get a foul call going up against Deng and Noah. Then, after getting new life with two Hinrich misses at the foul line, Coach Del Negro made the wisest coaching decision all night, fouling Anderson Varejao with a three point lead and eight seconds remaining. Andy split the pair, and on the second missed shot, the refs swallowed their whistle, allowing Noah to arm-bar and strangle LeBron as he crashed for the rebound. I know, things, a lot of things, are let go on a missed free throw, but seriously? Brad Miller made both freebies, the Cavs used their last timeout, and Mo Williams drilled an off balance trey with 3.5 seconds to play. Luol Deng made his first then missed his second. Anthony Parker grabbed the rebound, took three dribbles, and jump stopped, heaving the half-court shot that grazed the iron, falling short for the win. AP had Mo streaking beside him wide-open (see: Oklahoma City this year), but you can't fault him for grabbing it and going up court and heaving it. You can, however, fault Coach Brown for not holding onto an extra timeout, something that has happened far too much in close playoff losses for the wine and gold.

goes to: LeBron James. I guess you've got to go with LeBron's near 40-point effort for the second straight night. He scored 21 of his 39 in the final eighteen minutes of the game, driving his team back into playing competitive basketball. James's 39 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks, however, were not enough.

Team Grade: D

Cleveland simply didn't want this game as much as the Bulls did. Chicago scorched their home nets all night with 50% shooting overall and turned it over only eight times, a trend from the entire series. Conversely, the Cavs did make 14 three pointers, but they shot 35 of them, a sign that they were settling for jumpers, playing right into Chicago's hands. The Cavs came back to win the boards 43-42, but they missed 11 free throws and committed 13 turnovers. Focus shouldn't be a problem moving forward in this series.

Game 4, the true swing game in this series, is Sunday afternoon. I expect the Cavaliers to bring more intensity in that game, minimizing the missed layups and lack of focus plays. But, they need better play from the big men, in particular Shaquille O'Neal and Anderson Varejao. If not, small ball will have to reign supreme to get them through this series.

All for one. One for all. 14 to go.

Kirk

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