Bulls look to rebound on road vs. Cavaliers

Before Wednesday's road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers even starts, the Chicago Bulls know they can't have a finish like the one they endured Monday at Madison Square Garden.

Leading the New York Knicks by eight points down the stretch, Chicago went scoreless over the final 3:33 as the Knicks ended the game on a 15-0 run to steal a 105-98 victory.

"We gave them the game down the stretch, and if we're talking about being a playoff team, we can't have moments like this, when we got a team down by a lot of points and letting them work themselves back in the game," Bulls center Wendell Carter Jr. said.

Chicago coach Jim Boylen watched his team build an 18-point lead in the second quarter and maintain a seemingly comfortable cushion of eight to 10 points for most of the rest of the way.

As Boylen sees it, if the Bulls are to seize and maintain control against the Cavs in their first meeting with a Central Division rival this season, the team's defense and toughness must be dogged.

"I do embrace the physical parts of the game, and all I can say is it's where we need to grow as a group of men," Boylen said. "That's where we've gotta grow. And we've got to embrace the moments where your physicality wins the game, maybe not your skill level or your talent level. That's what I have to coach and that's what we've got to do better."

Cavaliers coach John Beilein also showed perspective in assessing his team's own Monday road defeat. Cleveland trailed defending Central Division champion Milwaukee by five with seven minutes to go before the Bucks pulled away for a 129-112 victory, winning despite getting just 14 points from star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was limited to his lowest regular-season scoring output since Jan. 15.

"There are so many positives that we are going to find in this game. ... We'll learn from the video, we've got great guys on the team," Beilein said. "They are going to learn, but humility sometimes is a great teacher."

Beilein, in his first year on an NBA bench after a distinguished college coaching career, has shared Boylen's objective to instill extra grit in his players.

While he knows that will take time with a young, developing roster, Beilein has been encouraged by early returns.

"We are going to fight for 48 minutes," Cavaliers power forward Tristan Thompson said.

Wednesday's game begins a stretch of three straight games against Central foes for the Bulls, who will look to snap a two-game losing streak. Cleveland has split its first two contests in division play.

The Bulls won three of four meetings against the Cavaliers last season.

Chicago will look to rebound after an uneven offensive performance. The Bulls exceeded 100 points in their first two games but haven't reached that threshold in their past two contests.

"You see all around the league so far, there's up and down scores," Bulls guard Zach LaVine said. "We got a new offense. ... We're just trying to get everything clicking."

--Field Level Media