Rookie Tyler Zeller has been the Cavaliers’ starting center for 10 games now, ever since Anderson Varejao went out with a bruised right knee.
He has faced some of the NBA’s best starting big men, including Boston’s Kevin Garnett, Indiana’s Roy Hibbert, Atlanta’s Al Horford, Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez and Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins.
Then there’s Chicago’s Joakim Noah. And Luol Deng. And Carlos Boozer.
The three combined to overwhelm Zeller and the Cavs inside en route to a 118-92 victory Monday night at the United Center, the Bulls’ 11th straight victory over the Cavs and their fifth straight over the Cavs in Chicago. It was a season high in points for the Bulls, who improved to 19-13.
Asked to compare the Bulls’ big men to the others he has faced in this tough stretch, Zeller said: “They’re actually completely different. The other guys we’ve been playing have been a lot more one-on-one, back to the basket. Boozer does some of that, but they did a lot more passing to each other. Their interior passing was phenomenal, and they go to the boards hard.”
Boozer, a former Cav, led Chicago with 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Deng added 19 points, and Noah had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Reserve Taj Gibson chipped in with 18 points and seven rebounds as the Bulls outscored the Cavs in the paint, 54-36, and outrebounded them, 47-31.
The 31 rebounds were a season low for the Cavs, who fell to 8-28 and lost to the Bulls for the third time this season. Imagine what will happen when Bulls star Derrick Rose comes back from left knee surgery.
Dion Waiters, in his fourth game as the Cavs’ sixth man, finished with 18 points. Kyrie Irving and C.J. Miles each had 15 for the Cavs, while Tristan Thompson added 14 points and eight rebounds. Zeller finished with six points and six rebounds.
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