Not Cutesy for Cavs

With President Barack Obama on hand to take in Tuesday's season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Bulls likely had a few more butterflies than usual going into a game featuring LeBron James.  Further upping the pressure was Fred Hoiberg making his head coaching debut on a nationally televised tilt which opened the entire NBA schedule, not just those between the two teams.  You never would have thought nerves were there though.  Not after a 97-95 win.

The Cavs made their first three field-goal attempts, but the Bulls came back in the opening quarter to win it 26-17.  Although Cleveland outscored them in the remaining three frames and James scored a game-high 25 points, the home team refused to succumb to pressure.  Each time the Cavaliers sustained a run, the Bulls would counter with tight defense and just enough offense.  It culminated on the last possession when Pau Gasol knocked James' layup out of bounds and Jimmy Butler deflected the subsequent inbound pass away.

Nikola Mirotic proved it was worth the wait to become a regular starter, leading the Bulls with 19 points, nine coming on 3-pointers.  Derrick Rose took a half to get into his usual groove, but eventually scored 18 on 8-of 22 shooting and dished out a team-high five assists.  Jimmy Butler was just behind with 17 and made all five free throws, showing the battle for whose team it is between him and Rose is in a virtual dead heat.  Tony Snell and E'Twaun Moore each scored 11, totals coming from conventional and unconventional sources respectively.

Although it's nice to start the season off 1-0 against your biggest obstacle in the East, you don't want to read too much into it.  Hoiberg should know as well as his players not every meeting with the best player in the game is going to end happily, especially not after they nearly gave this one away at the end.  Still, the offensive runs, clutch defense and transitional play should be a precursor to what this club can do.  We'll have ample opportunity to assess Hoiball throughout the year, but at least for one night, it worked just well enough.

The Bulls have a quick turnaround thanks to the second half of a back-to-back Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets.  Brook Lopez, Joe Johnson and Andrea Bargnani are among the top talent on that team, but the lack of Deron Williams, now with Dallas, could benefit the Bulls in the backcourt.  It helps that the two best players on the team happen to start there.  Despite playing on consecutive nights, the quest to improve to 2-0 looks doable.