Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN the Cleveland Cavaliers (0-1) will try to shake off a tough home-opener loss to the Knicks when they head to Chicago to face Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls (1-0) at the United Center. Live stream the game free by clicking this link. Cavaliers fans can listen to the radio broadcast on WTAM 1100 while Bulls fans may follow suit by turning their radio dials to ESPN 1000.
The Cavaliers were the surprise of Thursday night when they dropped a close game to the Knicks on their home floor in LeBron James' return to Cleveland. The Knicks were playing the second game of a back-to-back to open their season, and in the first tilt they were blown out by the Bulls.
James had an off night, but didn't blame his performance on the pressure of playing for Cleveland again. "I didn't press. I didn't do much," James said. "It was a special night. I'm glad it was great, but I'm also glad it's over."
They looked far less dominant than the Bulls in their opener, who are considered to be the chief obstacle to another LeBron appearance in the NBA Finals. Derrick Rose had 13 points and five assists in that game, pedestrian numbers by his MVP standards, but his teammates don't expect him to shoulder such a large burden with this group.
"I think it's a lot of pressure off (Rose's) shoulders because we have, I think, a variety of weapons, so he doesn't have that pressure on himself to be able to score and force things," Bulls big man Pau Gasol said.
The Bulls frontcourt will have their hands full guarding Kevin Love, who excelled in the opener to the tune of 19 points and 14 rebounds. He will draw the Bulls bigs out to the perimeter as well after nailing three of his six 3-point attempts.
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