Sometimes a coach will answer all the questions before they’re asked.
That’s what Cavaliers coach Mike Brown did after his team’s pratfall in a 98-87 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night at The Q.
“Easy to sum up,” Brown said tersely. “Chicago just out-toughed us. They out-toughed us. They were more physical than us. They played with more energy than we did. They executed. They brought us to a standstill or a halt offensively. The ball for us stayed on one side of the floor. We didn’t do a good job of moving bodies nor moving the ball. They got whatever they wanted down at the other end.
“Give Chicago credit. They were extremely physical with us. We didn’t move well. We didn’t screen well. We couldn’t finish around the basket. it was a tough night for every single guy on our roster.
“They just handed our lunch to us. We didn’t respond well. That’s what’s disappointing. Going into the game, we talked about the tougher team, or the more physical team, is going to win the game, and we did not show up in that department tonight against those guys. That’s why the score is what it is. That’s why they shot what they shot. That’s why we shot what we shot. They made us keep the ball on one side of the floor. We were very, very slow with our pace, very methodical in the half court. We didn’t do a good job of trying to get teammates open and/or moving the ball.”
OK, then.
It was hard to tell which was worse — the Cavs defense or their offense. Both were bad. But the Bulls had something to do with the Cavs shooting 37.5 percent. The Cavs have no excuse for letting the Bulls, playing without starters Derrick Rose (knee), Carlos Boozer (calf) and Kirk Hinrich (hamstring), shoot 53 percent and improve to 21-20, 7-2 since trading their leading scorer, Luol Deng, to the Cavs on Jan. 7. D.J. Augustin had 27 points, Taj Gibson finished with 26 points, and Joakim Noah had 18 rebounds and 9 points. Augustin and Gibson were wide open all night.
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