The Cleveland Cavaliers (3 - 2) defeated the Chicago Bulls (2 - 3), 106 - 101, in Game 5 on Tuesday at the Quicken Loans Arena. Although this game lacked the buzzer - beating heroics fans had become accustomed to after Games 3 and 4, Tuesday's contest was not lacking for excitement. Chicago got off to a fast start and led by as many as 10 points in the early going, but long scoring droughts allowed Cleveland to get back into the game. With the recent history between these teams, tensions simmered for much of Tuesday's pivotal Game 5. Those tensions boiled over early in the fourth quarter when Chicago's Taj Gibson got tangled up with Cleveland's Matthew Dellavadova under the basket and kicked Dellavadova, leading to a flagrant foul and an ejection. At that point, Chicago trailed by 10 points and had just lost one of its last effective front court players. The Bulls charged back and cut their deficit to two points, but Cleveland's Iman Shumpert saved the game with an offensive rebound with less than 20 seconds remaining. After securing the rebound, Shumpert fired an outlet pass to Kyrie Irving, who was then fouled and sunk both of his free throws. The Cavaliers went on to seal the game and the series will now move back to Chicago for Game 6 on Thursday with Cleveland holding a 3 - 2 advantage. Chicago was missing All-Star power forward Pau Gasol for the second straight game on Tuesday, but still managed to remain close until the end. Taj Gibson made the start in place of Gasol and was effective prior to be ejected, with 10 points and five rebounds over 26 minutes. Jimmy Butler had a very strong outing as well with 29 points, including the three pointer that pulled the Bulls within two points late. Chicago will have a chance to even the series Thursday and send it to a Game 7, which would take place on Sunday. Cleveland came into Game 5 looking to sustain the momentum from Sunday's buzzer - beating win in Chicago and was able to do just that. LeBron James turned in another tremendous performance with 38 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three blocks, and three steals. Kyrie Irving, who has been battling tendinitis in his left knee, gritted out 39 minutes Tuesday and posted 25 points. History is on Cleveland's side for the rest of the series, as the teams that have won Game 5 in a tied best - of - seven series have won the series 82% of the time.
["TeamStat(G,'Cavaliers') has 2 Number of team assists ,has 106 Losses ,has 3 Total points ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Bulls') has 20 Number of team assists ,has 3 Losses ,has 101 Total points ,has 20 Points in 2nd quarter ,has 2 Wins ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Taj Gibson') has 26 Assists ,has 10 Blocks ,has 5 3-pointer percentage ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Jimmy Butler') has 29 Assists ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'LeBron James') has 6 Assists ,has 3 Blocks ,has 38 3-pointer percentage ,has 12 Minutes played ,has 3 Points ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Iman Shumpert') has 20 Assists ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Kyrie Irving') has 39 Assists ,has 25 Blocks ."]