The Bulls have looked downright ugly on offense against the Cavaliers. Playing Cleveland, a bottom-10 defense in the regular season, should have helped, but the Bulls’ offense looks as unwatchable as ever.
Having the 34-year-old Pau Gasol helped on offense at times, but he went down in game 3 with a strained left hamstring and missed Games 4 and 5. That, however, allowed Tom Thibodeau to play more of Nikola Mirotic, who is a better matchup for this series, but that hasn’t worked out very well either.
On the bright side — if there is one — Gasol is returning for game 6 to stave off elimination after Sunday’s buzzer-beater by Lebron James and Tuesday’s near-comeback. He’s averaging 15.1 points and 9.9 boards in the postseason, but those numbers have dropped to 12.7 and 6.0 against the Cavaliers. He’s struggled mightily on defense, blowing pick-and-roll coverages and has looked too slow and old to defend Tristan Thompson and of course, James, when he plays power forward.
He should be worried.
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