The Chicago Bulls (10) defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers (0 - 1) 99 - 92 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Bulls had a trio of 20 - point scorers to lead them to victory past the Cavaliers who were without J.R. Smith, due to a suspension that will also hold him out for Game 2. Mike Miller started in place of Smith at shooting guard but only played 16 minutes. He hit one three - pointer and grabbed five rebounds in his time on the floor, but his team was clearly missing the spark that Smith provides. The Cavaliers were also missing Kevin Love, who underwent surgery on his shoulder last Wednesday. Love is out for the remainder of the postseason and it's quite possible he's already played in his final game as a Cleveland Cavalier. Iman Shumpert stepped in the starting lineup in Love's absence. Shumpert was the second - leading scorer for Cleveland with 22 points. With Shumpert and Miller's insertion into the starting lineup, LeBron James was bumped to power forward. However, big - man Tristan Thompson played 37 minutes which allowed James to play more from his preferred position of small forward. James finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists, three steals and costly six turnovers. Kyrie Irving led Cleveland in scoring with 30 points. He and James will need to come back strong in Game 2 to try and even up the series before they head to Chicago. Derrick Rose started off strong as he did in the first round against the Milwaukee Bucks. On Monday he had 25 points, five rebounds, five assists and one steal in his teams Game 1 upset of the Cavs in Cleveland. Jimmy Butler continued his amazing run this year with 20 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals, while guarding the most dominant force in the NBA, LeBron James. Pau Gasol once again proved he's still one of the top big men in the league. He dropped 21 points on the Cavs to go along with 10 rebounds, four assists an four key blocked shots. He also had the best plus/minus of any player on either team with a plus - 21. Joakim Noah did n't score on any of his four shots in 29 minutes but that proved to be irrelevant as Chicago was still able to take down Cleveland in Game 1. If the Bulls manage to win Game 2 as well, they will head back to Chicago with a 20 lead with two games to play at home in a row.
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