Cleveland Cavaliers Preview: Cavs vs. Bulls

The Cavaliers remain at home after their victory against the Wizards and welcome the Chicago Bulls into Quicken Loans arena Friday night for an Eastern Conference matchup.

The Cavs got stellar performances from their starters, most notably, Kyrie Irving with 29 points and Anderson Varejao grabbing a career-high 23 rebounds.  Rookie Dion Waiters contributed on both sides of the floor scoring 17 points with three steals.

Oct 30, 2012; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving (left) and shooting guard Dion Waiters (3) celebrate in the fourth quarter against the Washington Wizards at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-US PRESSWIRE

Cleveland played great in their first game; they impressed me in more ways than one.  But the Wizards were also missing two of their best players in point guard, John Wall, and power forward, Nene.  To put Tuesday’s win into perspective, if the Cavs were missing Irving and Varejao, the chances of winning would diminish greatly.  However, if we continue to get contributions from all five positions, like we did on Tuesday, the Cavs will be a tough team to defend.

The Derrick Rose-less Bulls come into Cleveland after their home victory Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings.  Joakim Noah recorded a double-double, 23 points-10 rebounds, Richard Hamilton scored 19 points and Kirk Hinrich tallied seven assists.

An intriguing matchup Friday night will be at the point guard position.  Hinrich didn’t fill the stat sheet up in their first game, but he ran the offense effectively enough to win.  Hinrich will have a tougher task on Friday when he is matched up against Irving.  Irving left Washington scratching their heads Tuesday leading his team to a fourth-quarter victory.

Varejao is coming off a career-high 23 rebounds, 12 of which were offensive, and will be matched up with just as energetic of a center in Noah.  Both players will not back down in the paint and won’t let any easy buckets occur.

Cavaliers’ Starting Lineup:

PG – Kyrie Irving

SG – Dion Waiters

SF – Alonzo Gee

PF – Tristan Thompson

C – Anderson Varejao

Bulls’ Starting Lineup:

PG – Kirk Hinrich

SG – Richard Hamilton

SF – Luol Deng

PF – Carlos Boozer

C – Joakim Noah

Season Stats:

Cavaliers PPG: 94.0

Field Goal Percentage: 46%

Rebounds Per Game: 54

Turnovers Per Game: 21

Points Against: 84

Bulls PPG: 93.0

Field Goal Percentage: 42%

Rebounds Per Game: 46

Turnovers Per Game: 18

Points Against: 87