February 23, 2013; Orlando, FL, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Dion Waiters (3) dunks the ball against the Orlando Magic at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Griffith-USA TODAY Sports

Having your star player hurt is never a good thing, and I’m not going to tell you any different. However, this season Kyrie Irving is averaging 15 points against the Chicago Bulls; and the Cavs are 0-3 against the Bulls this season. Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich has really been the only player in the NBA who has been able to contain last year’s Rookie of the Year each time they face off.  So the Irving-less Cavs took on the Derrick Rose-less Bulls in Chicago for their fourth matchup this season. Head coach Byron Scott inserted Shaun Livingston into the starting lineup. With their leading scorer out for the game, there was some question as to where their scoring would come from. The Cavs are 6-20 the past two seasons when Irving doesn’t play, but Dion Waiters and company didn’t think of that as a negative, and turned it into a positive.

The first half went back-and-fourth, and the two ended up deadlocked when halftime arrived. Tristan Thompson had a nice first half, but early in the third quarter he picked up three quick fouls, forcing Scott to put him on the bench. Wayne Ellington ended the third quarter on a high note for the Cavs after he buried a three pointer as the buzzer sounded.

The fourth quarter started to play out similarly to how it did Sunday in Miami – the Cavs held a decent lead – then things began to unravel in the final three minutes after Alonze Gee got a steal that led to a fast break. After hearing the footsteps of Bulls forward Luol Deng, Gee bounced the ball off of his foot out of bounds. But Scott called a timeout to regroup his guys and it worked after they scored on their next two possessions, giving the Cavs a 102-96 wins over the Bulls.

Waiters was the Cavs’ top performer, scoring 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including 3-for-4 from three.

The Cavs struggled moving the ball around and only dished out 18 assists, compared to Chicago’s 32 assists. Waiters finished the game with zero assists but was in charge of the offense the whole game.

(Cool-Hand) Luke Walton was the first man off the bench in the third quarter and played a huge role in the Cavaliers’ win. He led the team with five assists and hit a key jumper with 1:21 left in the game, giving the Cavs a 97-92 lead.

Tonight’s win was only the third win for the Cavs against the Central Division this season.

Marreese Speights only played 17 minutes tonight, but he stilled out-performed his former college teammate, Joakim Noah. These two were jokingly jawing back-and-forth before and during the game, making this matchup entertaining to watch.

Chicago’s frontcourt dominated the Cavs’ frontcourt tonight, outscoring them 60-25.  The Cavs did not shoot it well from three tonight, but their effort on defense is what helped make up for it after they forced the Bulls to commit 15 turnovers.

The Cavs return back home tomorrow night to face the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors are 7-4 since they acquired Rudy Gay from Memphis. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena.

February 23, 2013; Orlando, FL, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Dion Waiters (3) shoots over Orlando Magic forward Kyle O

Will Derrick Rose and Kyrie Irving ever get the chance to match up? Although Rose is still not satisfied with where he is at recovery wise, Irving will also be missing his first game since December 8. The All-Star point guard is battling a hyperextended right knee and is also questionable for Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Raptors according to The Plain Dealer. That means journeyman Shaun Livingston will be starting for the ailing Irving, who is listed as day-to-day. The Chicago Bulls have been on sort of a slump lately, so this matchup with Irving sitting out couldn’t have come at a better time for the Windy City warriors:

Opponent’s Blog: Pippen Ain’t Easy

Venue: United Center — Chicago

Tipoff: Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 8 p.m.

Betting Line: Bulls by -8.5

Where you can watch: Fox Sports Ohio, NBATV

Where you can listen: WTAM (1100 AM), WFUN (970 AM)

The Bulls are caught in a rut. Out of their last 11 games, they have lost seven of them. This includes their most recent game in which they put on one of the worst offensive performances in some time. If losing by 30 points to the Oklahoma City Thunder wasn’t bad enough, the Bulls managed to shoot 29.1 percent from the field.

For the Cavaliers, catching a team that they haven’t beaten in the last 11 tries on a day like today would have been grand if only Irving were in the lineup. Even though the Chicago defense is known for giving the reigning Rookie of the Year troubles, Cleveland’s star has grown a lot since the last time these two teams met on Jan. 7. But with the way that Dion Waiters has been playing in the month of February, an outburst from the No. 4 overall pick may be enough to guide the Cavs past a team in the midst of confusion.

In the last matchup Waiters had 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting off the bench. The matter of fact that Waiters was on the bench in that contest should be into context how much the rookie shooting guard has grown. In 10 February games Dion is shooting 50.9 percent from the field and averaging 14.1 points. In Cleveland’s losing effort against the Miami Heat, the former Syracuse sixth man scored 26 points and 11-of-17 shooting against a stingy Miami defense.

While Livingston will come in as a facilitator off the bench and Waiters will hopefully continue selecting smart shots, the problems will mostly stem from down low. Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah make up one of the best frontcourts in the league. They’re gritty down low, fight for every last rebound and like to pick on the young guys. Until right before the All-Star break, Tyler Zeller had been playing the most ineffective basketball of his rookie season. Defenders were leaving him with zero shots and he was being boxed out to perfection.

Tristan Thompson will have to come in and help Zeller when necessary. The offensive boards will need to be hit on hard all night because one basket could make a difference against the struggling Chicago offense.

With Irving out, things do look bleak. This may be Dion’s chance to make a statement game by his lonesome.

Jan 7, 2013; Rosemont, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls power forward Taj Gibson (22) goes to the basket against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the second half at the United Center. The Bulls beat the Cavaliers 118-92. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

There was a time in this game where the ClevelandCavaliers (8-28) were in control. It was enough to win the first quarter, but that was it. A poor performance in the second half allowed the Chicago Bulls (19-13) to trounce the Cavs for the third time this year, 118-92.

The Cavs defense was on point in the first quarter,forcing the Bulls into bad shots. Chicago shot 36 percent in the first quarter, and that was a lone bright spot for the Cavs tonight. The Bulls went on to shoot 54 percent for the game, including 10-of-14 from three-point range. The Bulls played a great half-court game tonight and worked the ball well down to theirbigs. Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah accounted for 22 of the team’s 34 assists. With Anderson Varejaocontinuing to nurse his right knee, the Cavs knew coming into this game that they were going to have their hands full with Boozer and Noah, and that is exactly how it played out.

Kyrie Irving and C.J. Miles both finished the game with 15 points each. Irving had four assists in the first quarter, and then only had two for the rest of the game. Miles left the game in the third quarter (back spasms) and did not return.

Cleveland’s leading scorer was Dion Waiters, who came off the bench for the third straight game, who scored 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

Chicago was able to get plenty of production out of their bench brigade, who had a very efficient shooting night. Taj Gibson led the bench with 18 points, MarcoBelinelli scored 15 and little Nate Robinson contributed 14 points and seven assists.

The Cavs haven’t beaten the Bulls since March of 2010.

After the rumor that Omri Casspi had asked the team for a trade, he found himself with some playing time.He totaled four points and one assist on 2-of-5 shooting.

Other than the first quarter and Waiters’ 18 points, there is not too much to be proud of. Boozer and Noah, who both recorded double-doubles, dominated Tyler Zeller and Tristan Thompson down low.

The Cavs will travel back to Cleveland for a home game against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.