Luke Walton has only been with the Cavaliers for three of the 11 straight losses to the Chicago Bulls, but that was enough for him. So Walton and fellow veteran Shaun Livingston, starting in place of injured point guard Kyrie Irving, led the charge down the stretch as the Cavs snapped that 11-game losing streak to the Bulls with a surprising 101-98 win on Tuesday night in the United Center.
Rookie Dion Waiters had 25 points for the Cavs, who improved to 19-38 and rescued a nationally televised NBA TV game.
But the biggest plays belonged to the oldest guys. Walton, 32, finished with eight points, five rebounds and five assists in 23:42. Livingston, 27, had 15 points, two rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in 33 minutes.
Livingston, who grabbed a huge offensive rebound on a missed shot by Alonzo Gee, made two free throws with 15.8 seconds to put the Cavs ahead, 100-96. Then Walton stole the inbounds pass from former Cav Carlos Boozer with 15.1 seconds left. The Bulls wound up fouling Waiters, who made one of two free throws to make it 101-96 with 9.7 seconds left. Joakim Noah’s dunk with 4.2 seconds left accounted for the final score.
But coach Byron Scott credited Walton with the win.
” Luke, to me, deserved the game ball if we were giving out one,” Scott said. “I thought he played terrific. I thought he played well all night long. Tristan [Thompson] got in foul trouble and [Walton] came in and did some great things on the offensive end, did some good things defensively.
“Again, he just knows how to play. That’s the biggest thing with Luke. He just knows how to win. Having him in there with Shaun just kind of calms guys down. They know what they’re going to do. That play at the end was big time.”
Walton grinned when told Scott would have given him a game ball for that steal.
“It was a pretty athletic save, wasn’t it?” he said. “The Bulls have been kicking our butts the last 11 games in a row. As athletes and competitors, it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. For me, it makes me want to beat ’em really bad. I don’t like to lose.”
Snapping the 11-game slide seemed unlikely, given that the Cavs were minus Irving, who was resting a sore right knee, and facing the best defensive team in the league. But a gritty performance allowed them to win here for the first time since March 19, 2010, which also happened to be the last time they beat the Bulls.
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