lebron went back to the cavs in 2014.
lebron went back to the cavs in 2014.
when did lebron go back to the cavs?
2014
the second return of derrick rose gave the bulls and their fans optimism for the 2014–15 season. with 2-time nba champion pau gasol and a deep bench consisting of taj gibson, nikola mirotić, tony snell, aaron brooks, doug mcdermott, kirk hinrich, among others, the bulls were one of the two favorite teams to come out of the eastern conference along with the cleveland cavaliers. the bulls started off the season in style with a blowout win of the new york knicks, and then winning 7 of their first 9 games (losses coming to the cleveland cavaliers and boston celtics). the emergence of jimmy butler as a primary scorer for the bulls was a major surprise and he surged into the forefront of the "most improved player of the year" award race. butler's statistical jump was noted by many as one of the greatest in nba history, going from scoring just 13 points per game in 2013–14 to scoring 20 points per game in 2014–15. pau gasol was considered a huge asset for the bulls and averaged a double-double throughout the season. both butler and gasol ended up making the eastern conference all-star team. the bulls' second half of the season was marred by inconsistency and frustration set in with derrick rose blasting the team for not being on the same page. tension between management and tom thibodeau continued to be a dark cloud hanging over the organization. the bulls finished with a 50–32 record and the 3rd seed in the eastern conference. they faced the milwaukee bucks in the first round, and took advantage of the young and inexperienced bucks by going up a quick 3–0 in the series. however, inconsistency and not being on the same page yet again plagued the bulls as the bucks won the next two games, sending a scare to chicago. the bulls bounced back with fury in game 6 however, beating the bucks by a playoff record 54 points winning the series 4–2. the next round saw the bulls facing their arch-rival cleveland cavaliers, and their biggest nemesis, lebron james, who had beaten the bulls in all three of their previous playoff meetings. the bulls shocked the cavs in game 1 dominating them and never trailing. the cavs answered back in game 2 in the same fashion, never trailing the entire game. in a pivotal game 3 in chicago, the bulls and cavs battled closely all the way through, but the bulls prevailed on a last-second buzzer beating 3-pointer by derrick rose. in game 4, the cavs would answer once again, with lebron james hitting the buzzer-beating shot to win the game. the bulls lack of consistency and poor offensive showing doomed them once again as the cavs won the next 2 games handily and closed out the series 4–2. after the series, speculation erupted about tom thibodeau's job security due to escalating feud between thibodeau and bulls front office managers gar forman and john paxson.
chicago bulls
looking to go up 3–1 and take complete control of the series, the bulls went up 37–29 early in the second quarter. however, the cavs scored 16 unanswered points to go up 45-37 before settling for a 49–45 halftime lead. the bulls dominated the third quarter, outscoring the cavs 23–12. they led by as many as 11 points before settling for a 68–61 lead heading into the 4th quarter. led by j.r. smith and timofey mozgov, the cavs would rally, opening the 4th quarter on a 19–5 run to take an 80–73 lead with just under 5 minutes to play. with just under 40 seconds to play, lebron hit two consecutive free throws to put the cavs up 84–79. butler hit a three on the bulls' next possession, cutting the deficit to 84–82. the cavs were forced to burn three consecutive timeouts as they were unable to inbound the ball. once they inbounded the ball, james tried to burn the clock down as he was double teamed by rose and dunleavy. however, james swung his arm at dunleavy and committed an offensive foul, giving the ball back to the bulls with 14 seconds remaining. rose tied the game with a layup to even the game at 84–84 with 8 seconds remaining. james rushed down the court and tried to score the go-ahead layup but was blocked. the ball went out of bounds with 1.5 seconds remaining. on the cavs' final possession, matthew dellavedova inbounded the ball to james. james fired a jumper over butler that went through the hoop as the buzzer sounded, giving the cavs an 86–84 win. the cavs regained homecourt advantage as they evened up the series at 2–2. james led the team with 25 points (10/30 shooting) while rose led the bulls with 31 points on 11/23 shooting.
2015 nba playoffs