37-40»ESPN wrote:Still needing to play catch-up for the East's eighth seed, the Bulls open a critical stretch of three games in four nights Thursday at home against the Cavaliers, who may give LeBron James some rest with the NBA's top record wrapped up.
Toronto leads Chicago (37-40) in a close race for the No. 8 seed and the right to face Cleveland (61-17) in the first round, and the Bulls had a golden opportunity to pull even with the Raptors on Tuesday. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, have nothing to gain over their final four games but perhaps some rest. James played 35 minutes Tuesday -- still his least amount of action since March 1 -- but could see his workload decrease against the Bulls and Friday against Indiana.
James has averaged 25.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists in three relatively lackluster games against Chicago, which won 86-85 in Cleveland on Nov. 5 despite shooting 40.9 percent.
The Bulls will likely need Rose to step up if they're going to avoid a sixth loss in eight games to Cleveland. The reigning Rookie of the Year has averaged 13.8 points on 34.0 percent shooting in six career games against the Cavaliers.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=300408004
From Brian Windhorst's Twitter:
PDcavsinsider wrote:Delonte West (back) & Daniel Gibson (foot) likely will not play tomorrow at Chicago. Could be debut for Sebastian Telfair in Cavs uniform.
PDcavsinsider wrote:To be fair, Mike Brown likely to play all starters vs. Bulls like Raptors. But look for a wave of inactives including LeBron Fri. vs. Indy
Once the playoffs begin, I'll be starting a discussion series for all the rounds, and will be making all the game threads. Any objections and what not, just let me know.
