DUESSELDORF, Germany — Wladimir Klitschko knocked out Eddie Chambers in the 12th and final round to retain his WBO and IBF heavyweight belts Saturday night. The taller, heavier Klitschko dominated the fight and ended it with a left hook 5 seconds before the final bell. The American went down heavily and needed a couple of minutes to recover. The…

DUESSELDORF, Germany — Wladimir Klitschko knocked out Eddie Chambers in the 12th and final round to retain his WBO and IBF heavyweight belts Saturday night.

The taller, heavier Klitschko dominated the fight and ended it with a left hook 5 seconds before the final bell. The American went down heavily and needed a couple of minutes to recover. The referee never bothered to count.

The 33-year-old Ukrainian improved to 53-3 and scored his 48th KO. Chambers lost for the second time in 37 fights.

Klitschko caught Chambers with a big right that nearly floored him late in the second round. Chambers staggered but survived the round by clinging onto Klitschko.

Otherwise, Klitschko jabbed his way through a largely dull fight, with Chambers mainly trying to limit the damage.

Chambers, known as “Fast Eddie,” gave away 5 inches in height and 35 pounds in weight to the champion and his game plan was to get in close and try to connect inside. But Klitschko kept him away with his bigger reach and the effective left jab.

“I have to give him credit, he was [very] fast,” Klitschko said. “He doesn’t have much punching power, and his game plan was gone by Round 6.

Before getting hit in the second, Chambers threw Klitschko to the canvas with a wrestling move, and once ended up carrying the Ukrainian on his shoulders after bending down twice.

“I don’t think he ever really hit me, but it wasn’t easy,” Klitschko said. “I wanted to be too perfect maybe.”

Klitschko waited for his moment in the third, but Chambers mostly stayed away with arms raised. In the fourth, Klitschko tried to land some rights but mostly kept Chambers at bay with the left jab.

“When I was able to get past his jab, I couldn’t land any combinations. He worked well with his jab,” Chambers said later, wearing dark glasses.

Chambers landed a right hook to the side of Klitschko’s head in the fifth but the champion finished the round strongly, getting through with a couple of rights.

With little action in the sixth, Klitschko easily dominated the seventh, repeatedly hitting Chambers with left jabs and following through with rights to the head, but Chambers did not appear in great trouble.

Klitschko said before the fight that he was in the best shape of his life, but his timing seemed slightly off in his first bout in nearly 10 months.

Klitschko hit Chambers with a short right late in the eighth but did not follow up.

Chambers had to change his damaged right glove at the start of the 10th, leading to a delay.

Klitschko’s corner, including his older brother Vitali, the WBC heavyweight champion, urged him to step up the pace and knock out the American, but Klitschko kept his distance and relied on the jab to collect points.

Klitschko clearly tried to deliver the knockout punch in the final round and after chasing Chambers around the ring, he caught the American with a looping left to the side of the head that put Chambers down.

Chicago Bulls get their first win of the series with Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich leading the way.

UPDATED: 12:50 a.m.

Joshua Gunter / The Plain DealerAntawn Jamison is too late to prevent the Bulls’ Taj Gibson from grabbing this second-quarter loose ball during Thursday night’s game at the United Center.CHICAGO — Thoughts following the Cavs’ 108-106 Game 3 loss to the Chicago Bulls:

• The Cavs’ treated Game 3 like it was a regular season game. The Bulls treated it like a playoff game. Stripping away all the details and the coaching decisions and the calls, that was the reason why the Cavs lost.

Instead of realizing that this was the Bulls’ last shot to make this a series and that they’d come out fighting for their season with the injection of energy playing at home, the Cavs eased into Game 3 like it was a game in February. They played at something less than full speed for three quarters and hoped it worked and then turn it up in the fourth quarter. Questionable as it is, it works in the regular season but it is a bad habit. Seeing the way the Bulls’ attacked and the Cavs literally fell over themselves — Anthony Parker back pedaled once and actually went to the deck playing passive defense on Derrick Rose — highlighted this perfectly.

Perhaps this will serve as one of those “wake up” games that higher seeds sometimes need in the playoffs. It didn’t help that the Cavs played this same way in Game 2 and got away with playing a great quarter to win. That doesn’t work on the road, even against .500 teams. It must be assumed that Bulls’ non-stars will step up and have better games, that is what happens at home. Just look at what Jamario Moon did in Game 2.

As the Cavs break down film and go over lineup situations and fine-tune the game plan, attitude is going to be just as important. They will have to arrive Sunday ready to play a playoff game. They did that in Game 1 and then talked about how their focus was sharpened and how Shaquille O’Neal was leading by example. All of us in the media lapped it up and it was easy because you could see that the Cavs had that edge. It was vanishing in Game 2 and it was gone in Game 3.

• Now, about the officials. The charging foul that LeBron was called for with a minute to go was poor. Downright incorrect based on my opinion. Having said that, there was a previous block/charge situation in the fourth quarter with Deng and the Cavs got the call. You know that the call was poor because the two officials called different things. Also, there was Joakim Noah clearing LeBron going for a rebound in the last 10 seconds. That happens, officials will let things go on missed free throws.

Overall, the officiating did not decide the game. It rarely, rarely does. When the Cavs got down 20, in fact, I felt the officials actually gave them a few whistles that helped get them some momentum on 50/50 calls. At the end, the Cavs missed 11 free throws and because of that they are not permitted to point at officials.

After the game Stu Jackson stood in the hallway outside the Cavs locker room, which took guts considering how testy things were late. That is rare, for the guy who monitors the officials to be at a game like this. First, Danny Ferry worked him over and was questioning how the officials were calling the game. Then Mike Brown asked for Jackson to come into his office off the locker room and they went over some things and were civil. Brown and Ferry wouldn’t say exactly what they were asking about and it really doesn’t matter. The game was over, there was nothing that could be done. Give Jackson — who handed out $105,000 in fines for criticizing officials to Rasheed Wallace, Stan Van Gundy and Matt Barnes Thursday — credit for stepping into the fire and being a professional.

Both LeBron and Brown declined to get into a complaining session afterward, which fits their style. There was so much more wrong with the Cavs than a few calls.

• There will be much discussed over the next two days about the Cavs playing with a smaller lineup, the style that got them back in the game in the fourth quarter. Which means less Shaq and probably no Zydrunas Ilgauskas. It also may open the door for J.J. Hickson to get rotation minutes. In my e-mail and on my Twitter account fans have been screaming for it.

Not sure that Hickson makes a massive difference, but his athleticism could be a better matchup for a player like Joakim Noah. The problem is Hickson doesn’t always rebound well and not doing that against Noah will get you beat. Ultimately, the Cavs have to get a better game from Shaq. If he’s able to finish around the rim and get some bigs into foul trouble, then the flow of the game will change. That happened in Game 1. It has not since but the Cavs are going to stick with the big man and attempt to get him going.

Fourth quarter

• With Anderson Varejao in foul trouble, the Cavs went to a small lineup with LeBron James at power forward and Antawn Jamison at center. It allowed them to have a quick, good-shooting team with James functioning as a point guard. The Bulls had trouble covering the quickness and the Cavs were able to mount a rally and cut the lead down.

• With James guarding Rose and the Cavs bringing help, the ball found its way to Kirk Hinrich repeatedly and he continued to provide clutch shooting. He made several key jumpers and scored nine of his 27 points in the fourth quarter. The Bulls are 21-8 this season when Hinrich shoots better than 45 percent and he was 9-of-12 on Thursday.

• The Cavs did clean up a lot of problem areas in the second half, even if it wasn’t enough. They didn’t allow the Bulls any fastbreak points and just three second-chance points.

Third quarter: Bulls 79, Cavaliers 68

• The Cavs went on a 13-0 run after falling back by as many as 21 points, but it was built on unreliable jump shooting. They attempted 20 3-pointers in the first three quarters and eight in the third alone. The Cavs earned just 18 points in the paint through three quarters. Most of this can be attributed to the struggles of the usual interior scorers. Shaquille O’Neal was just 2-of-8 through three quarters and Antawn Jamison just 4-of-12.

• The Cavs attacked Derrick Rose coming out of halftime, sometimes pinching big men and devoting three bodies to attempt to block his path when driving to the rim. It forced him to give up the ball more and he scored just five points. However, he kept getting support off kick outs to Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich, who had a combined 33 points through three quarters.

• The Cavs’ poor free-throw shooting returned. After it carried them in Game 2, the Cavs missed chances to shrink the lead and missed seven free throws through three quarters.

Halftime: Bulls 56, Cavs 45

• Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro was on his toes and making a whipping motion with his arm everytime the Bulls get a rebound or a turnover trying to get his team to run in transition. The Bulls responded by attacking the Cavs and looking to go right to the basket. They were able to get 11 points on fastbreaks and also get into their offense quickly and keep the Cavs on their heels.

• Derrick Rose continued his strong play throughout the first half but a big difference for the Bulls was getting improved production from supporting scorers Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng. They were a combined 18-of-48 in the first two games. In the first half their jumpers were re-discovered and they combined to go 10-of-16 and give the Bulls a scoring injection they needed.

• Like in Game 2, the Bulls won the battle of the inside. They had a 25-18 rebounding edge and a 10-2 second-chance points edge at the half.

 First Quarter: Bulls 32, Cavs 21

• After shooting poorply for much of the series, the Bulls found a rhythm hitting jumpers in the first and finished at 54 percent. This is commonplace for a home team, especially in the playoffs. They are comfortable in the surroundings. They especially had success with mid-range jumpers, a key component of their offense. The Bulls again took great care of the ball, committing no turnovers.

• Mo Williams had a difficult start. Derrick Rose was looking to isolate and attack him off the dribble and was able to get past him for hoops three times. Williams also had two turnovers when he tried to force passes inside into traffic. In general, Rose was aggressive, scoring 15 points.

• The Cavs struggled shooting the ball, especially on the interior and scored just eight points in the paint. Both Shaquille O’Neal and
LeBron James missed shots at the basket that are the high percentage looks they prefer.

Projected starting lineups

Cavs: Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, LeBron James, Antawn Jamison, Shaquille O’Neal.

Bulls: Derrick Rose, Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson, Joakim Noah.

Officials: Monty McCutcheon, Tony Brothers, Jason Phillips.

• Coming into this game there is almost a feel like the Cavs lost Game 2. The Bulls are saying they were happy with how they played in Game 2 and want to do the exact same things tonight. This is especially true with how they rebounded and even how they played LeBron, which is to get him to take jumpers. As for the Cavs, they are focusing on trying to get back to their edge in the interior and get Shaq involved and enable him to control the game a bit. But I think that speaks to the disparity in the series. As I wrote Monday, there is a chance the Bulls have played their best game.

• Regardless of how the defenses play, and the Cavs didn’t play great in Game 2, the Bulls have no chance without getting unexpected help on offense. In Game 2, it was their 21 second-chance points. They are a good rebounding team, but that many points is abnormal even for them. I still say that Hinrich is the key. If/when Hinrich has a good shooting game, the Bulls are a different team offensively. They are probably going to need close to 100 points again to beat the Cavs. Rose will score, but he needs help.

• In their evaluation of Game 2, the Cavs felt their biggest flaw was allowing the ball to get into the middle defensively. That was part of the reason the Bulls were able to pile up so many points in the paint. The guards would drive, the defense would collapse and Rose or Hinrich would dish to Noah or another big for easy baskets. This is one of the Bulls strong suits, they drive the ball because they can’t shoot it. With the handcheck rules, you will never stop the dribble drives. But you can limit them with better movement, which is what the Cavs are going to try to do.

Noah has had his distractors since playing on two University of Florida national title teams. Sometimes overlooked is his development as a player. And: LeBron James' effect; Bulls home; wanting calls.

Joshua Gunter, The Plain DealerJoakim Noah reacting to Cavaliers fans during warmups prior to Monday night’s game in Cleveland.Difficult as it may be to admit for Cleveland Cavaliers fans, their least-liked Chicago Bulls player — center Joakim Noah — is developing into an impact player.

The Cavs visit Chicago tonight as the teams’ Eastern Conference first-round playoff series continues. Cleveland leads the best-of-7 series, 2-0, but Noah has flourished, averaging 17.5 points and 10.5 rebounds.

Noah has always had his distractors, often for good reason. Steve Aschburner writes for NBA.com that when Noah arrived in Chicago as a rookie, Bulls center-forward Brad Miller thought he was a “goofy kid.”

Writes Aschburner:

Fast-forward to Monday night in Cleveland. Noah, having brought the wrath of Quicken Loans Arena onto himself with a flippant, off-hand jab at the local culture in northeast Ohio, shrugged off the boos for a terrific 25-point, 13-rebound performance. Coping with (and outplaying) Shaquille O’Neal, rebounding and pushing the ball upcourt, stopping Cavalier attackers at the rim, threading back-door passes to teammate Derrick Rose — it was a revelation. Worthy of some reevaluation.

Miller on Noah now: “He’s just making great progress, with his athleticism, his talent, everything. Last summer I worked with him on shooting that 15-foot shot, and now he’s taking it. It’s a lot of little things. I go slow [on moves]. I tell him, ‘You don’t have to go fast.’ He’s good at picking up that stuff.”

Watch your mouth

The Bulls believe they have played well against the Cavs since the first quarter of Game 1. Still, there are ways they can imrove their chances to win. ESPN Chicago’s Nick Friedell details five of them, including:

5. Stop talking to LeBron: It’s still unclear who on the Bulls bench was exchanging words with the reigning MVP, but whoever it was, just stop — don’t give James any more reason to beat you. He was absolutely on fire on Monday night and admitted that he used the chirping as extra motivation. He’s proven that he has the ability to take over games, but the likelihood of him making 27-footer after 27-footer, like he did during Game 2, isn’t very high. If the Bulls continue to stay in his face — stop talking — they should have a chance to scratch a victory on Thursday night.

This way, that way

The Bulls are working to contain Cavaliers forward and likely two-time MVP LeBron James, while the Cavs look to control the Bulls’ second-year star guard, Derrick Rose. Obviously, the severity of these challenges differ. And, the teams are using different tactics to meet them.

Writes Mike McGraw for suburban Chicago’s Daily Herald:

It has been an interesting contrast, though. The Bulls essentially left James alone, guarded by Luol Deng, because they were afraid the Cavs superstar would just find teammates for open 3-point shots if they sent a double team.

The Cavaliers, meanwhile, have doubled Rose relentlessly, especially when backup power forward Anderson Varejao is in the game. The Cavs send two defenders at Rose 25 feet from the basket and they generally stay there until Rose either passes the ball or tries to knife his way into the lane.

Bulls ring

The Bulls don’t think they need wholesale changes to get a win over the Cavs. They are glad, though, to play at home for the first time in the series. Writes John Jackson for the Chicago Sun-Times:

One change the Bulls hope will make a difference is location. James was in his comfort zone — Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena — for the first two games. The UC will be full of red-shirted Bulls fans — part of the team’s ”See Red” promotion — yelling for James to miss those tough jumpers.

”We’re at home, and we’re gonna come out with a lot of energy,” Del Negro said. ”Just because we’re home doesn’t mean we’re gonna play that much better, but we’re gonna have to play smarter, be efficient, and in the fourth quarter, we’re gonna have to get stops and put the ball in the basket.

”We have to shoot a little bit better and make some open shots and put pressure on them and get their field-goal percentage down a little bit. We’re in the game in the fourth quarter [Monday], and they shot over 50 percent.” 

That’s what you think

The Bulls think referees are not rewarding Derrick Rose with enough trips to the foul line. Writes K.C. Johnson for the Chicago Tribune:

It’s a serious issue, though, and a season-long storyline for Rose, who has become only slightly more demonstrative about no-calls because it’s not his nature to make waves.

“We have to get to the free-throw line more and get more calls,” Del Negro said. “The aggressor usually gets the calls. Hopefully that will be the case. We have to somehow stay away from Shaquille (O Neal’s) elbows, get our head out of the way of those elbows a little bit.”

That bit of sarcasm is about as strong as Del Negro would go on the subject following Wednesday’s practice, which Rose missed to attend to a family emergency. Rose will play in Game 3.

Del Negro’s comment was in reference to Brad Miller drawing his third foul late in the first half of Game 1 for basically eating an O’Neal elbow sandwich.

 

 

Indications continue that prosecutors and West's attorneys working toward a plea bargain.

UPDATED: 5:32 p.m.

Plain Dealer fileDelonte West of the Cavaliers.CHICAGO — Delonte West isn’t out of trouble, but his legal issues now appear as if they will not disturb his postseason.

After a request from West’s defense attorney, West’s trial date on gun charges in suburban Washington D.C. was postponed Thursday until July 21. The trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday in Upper Marlboro, Md., after it was initially postponed from February.

Last week, West withdrew a series of pre-trial motions before Judge Michael P. Whalen, a sign West and the Maryland State’s Attorney were in plea bargain talks. Pushing the trial back, however, likely will slow that process down.

While the Cavaliers are not in any away involved in West’s defense, the postponement is likely good news for West’s availability. Not only would he have needed to be away from the team to attend his trial, but had West pleaded guilty to any charges there is a good chance he would have been suspended by the NBA during the playoffs.

If West settles his legal issues over the summer and pleads guilty or is found guilty, any suspension now would take place next season.

West was arrested with two handguns and a shotgun on Sept. 17 after cutting off a police officer on Interstate 495 while riding a three-wheeled motorcycle. In November he was charged with six gun counts and two traffic counts. All of the charges are misdemeanors in Maryland.

Last time the Cavs won a playoff game in Chicago, the Bulls' Michael Jordan was the NBA's best player. Jamario Moon in the spotlight; Cavs defend Cleveland; and more.

Joshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer LeBron James after making a fourth quarter shot against the Bulls on Monday night.The last time the Cleveland Cavaliers won a playoff game in Chicago was on May 21, 1992. The Cavs trounced the Bulls, 107-81, handing Michael Jordan the largest margin of defeat in his 179 career playoff games.

Circumstances are quite different tonight, when the Cavaliers again meet the Bulls in Chicago. First, the Cavs eventually lost that Eastern Conference Finals series, 4 games to 2. Tonight, Cleveland tries to take a 3-0 lead in a first-round series.

Chicago, 18 years ago, went on to win its second of three straight NBA titles, among the six overall for the Jordan-led Bulls teams. The Cavs are chasing their first championship.

And, the all-time great player, in his prime, is not Chicago’s Jordan. It’s Cleveland’s LeBron James. Other legendary performers - such as Scottie Pippen with Jordan and aging but valuable Shaquille O’Neal with James – play major roles. But it’s Jordan who made the Bulls an historic unit, and it’s James trying to do likewise for the Cavaliers.

Moon moves

Backup forward-guard Jamario Moon played a key role in the Cavs’ 112-102 Game 2 win with his four 3-point shots and superb defense. Chris Broussard writes for ESPN.com that Moon’s journey to playoff game hero featured odd stops along the way:

But the 6-foot-8 Moon is far from a neophyte trying to find his way in this world. Heck, he’s seen parts of this world that hardly anyone besides a journeyman hooper with dreams of making it big has seen.

Moon’s résumé reads like something out of “Gunsmoke.” While working his way through the USBL, the CBA, the ABA and the NBA D-League, he’s had stops in Mobile and Huntsville, Ala.; Dodge City, Kan.; Louisville, Ky.; Rockford, Ill.; Enid, Okla.; Marietta, Ga.; Fort Worth, Texas; Gary, Ind.; and Albany, N.Y. And that’s not even to mention his stints in Rome and Mexico or with the Harlem Globetrotters.

But that’s about what you’d expect from a guy who went undrafted out of Mississippi’s Meridian Community College before eventually landing with Toronto in 2007, Miami a year later, and finally Cleveland.

Cavs covered 

Plain Dealer Cavaliers coverage includes Mary Schmitt Boyer’s look ahead to tonight’s game, her Cavaliers Insider and her report on how LeBron James “loves Chicago.”

LeBron edgy

LeBron James has the idea that people aren’t fully appreciating his unselfishness as a player. Writes Bob Finnan for the News Herald and Lorain Morning Journal:

James is coming off a 40-point effort against the Bulls. It was the ninth career playoff game with 40 or more points, and fifth in the last 10 games.

“It bothers me when I have big games and people say I didn’t get the other guys involved,” he said. “I still ended up with eight assists and eight rebounds.

“It doesn’t make sense to me. I’m the only guy in the league when I decide to have 30 or 40 points, then I’m not getting my teammates involved. I feel like my presence on the court will automatically get my teammates involved. No matter what’s going on throughout the course of the game, I’m always playing for the betterment of the team.”

Cavs answer Enemy No. 1

Bulls center Joakim Noah hasn’t been shy about his dislike of Cleveland, prompting Cavaliers players to defend the city. Writes Scott Sargent for foxsportsohio.com:

The Cavaliers in-game operations team was quick to use Noah’s unfavorable opinion of the town to their advantage, riling up the 20,000-plus fans each time the former Florida Gator toed the free throw line.  But before Game 2 could even tip-off, several members of the Cavaliers were quick to stand up for the championship-starved city.

“I’m sorry if [Noah] doesn’t appreciate Cleveland,” said guard Anthony Parker.  “We have enjoyed it – my family has enjoyed it.  We don’t want Noah to enjoy the city too much.  I think we’re doing our job in Cleveland if he’s not enjoying his time here.”

Around the web 

Vaughn McClure writes for the Chicago Tribune that as much as LeBron James admires cities such as Chicago, he will likely stay in Cleveland with the Cavaliers.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal writes about Jamario Moon.

Rick Noland writes for the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram and Medina County Gazette about LeBron James.

For the Canton Repository, Chris Beaven writes his playoff notebook.

An NBCSports.com blog, Trash Talk, discusses the pressure on LeBron James to deliver a title to Cleveland.

Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy often says what many people are thinking, but afraid to say out loud. Van Gundy has an issue with the NBA playoffs. Van Gundy says there needs to be fewer days between games. The league's first-round playoff format that spreads games out for prime-time television is difficult on teams. "Baseball gets their whole…

Scott Shaw/The Plain DealerCleveland Cavalier LeBron James blocks a shot by the Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose in the fourth quarter on Monday. Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy often says what many people are thinking, but afraid to say out loud.

Van Gundy has an issue with the NBA playoffs. Van Gundy says there needs to be fewer days between games. The league’s first-round playoff format that spreads games out for prime-time television is difficult on teams.

“Baseball gets their whole playoffs and World Series done in like three weeks. Us, it takes us the first round to go three weeks.”

The playoffs began April 17. The NBA Finals will end in mid-to-late June. The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls average a day off between games, with the exception of two days off between Game 2 and Game 3 and between Game 3 and Game 4.

Van Gundy suggested the NBA have back-to-back games in each city, then allow for a day off for travel. He said the first-round schedule throws teams off because it’s so different from the regular season.

 

LeBron James says he understands why the Chicago Bulls want to play tough defense against him. What he doesn't understand is why they would want to open their mouths.

View full sizeJoshua Gunter / The Plain DealerLeBron James is more than happy to rise up to a challenge, especially the verbal kind.CLEVELAND, Ohio — Keep talking, Chicago. LeBron James loves it.

“I thrive on adversity,” James said with a grin on Wednesday as the Cavaliers prepared for Game 3 of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Bulls tonight in United Center.

After all, look what happened in Game 2. The chirpy Bulls invited him to take jump shots, which he did — to the tune of 40 points, 15 in the decisive fourth quarter of the Cavs’ 112-102 victory that gave Cleveland a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

James adamantly denied that he told the Bulls bench that he was going to get 40 points on Monday night.

“I absolutely did not say that,” he said. “That’s not a true statement. I was going to take the shot, though. I don’t think it was disrespectful for them to tell me to take the shot. But I feel like I worked enough on my game where I feel like I’m confident to keep on continuing to take those shots.

“I made a lot of jumpers that game, which was good for myself and good for our team.

“I didn’t mouth off at all. I was smiling most of the time. I was just looking over at the bench and giving them that look that I can make outside shots. I understand a lot of teams would love to make me shoot jumpers and keep me out of the paint. That’s what I would do if I was guarding me.

“I wouldn’t talk to me if I was guarding me, though. I would just let me play my game. I wouldn’t talk to me. That’s not a good choice of words.”

Besides advising the Bulls, James also suggested some things the Cavs need to do better in Game 3. He and his teammates were outscored in the paint in Game 2, 56-38. The Bulls also had the edge in second-chance points, 21-7. Plus, the Cavs had 12 turnovers while forcing just four.

“We know we can play better,” James said. “We know what we can control — second-chance points and getting back in transition. We gave them too many transition points and we gave them too many paint points. Those are things we can control. We still won by 10. If we can crack that down halfway, we may bust the game wide open at one point.

“We’ve got to control what we can control. That’s turning the ball over, getting back in transition, not allowing them to get on the break and just trying to clean up our defensive rebounding, which we didn’t do a great job of in Game 2.”

Though the Cavs had 31 defensive rebounds, they also allowed Chicago’s Joakim Noah to get seven of the Bulls’ 13 offensive boards. Noah finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds.

“You’ve just got to give him credit,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said of Noah. “He was extremely active in the last game. We didn’t do as good a job of trying to keep a body on him the whole time.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to keep a body on him a little bit better to take away the second opportunities that he was able to generate and continue to stay in front of him when he drives the basketball. If he shoots that jump shot, contest it and live with the results.”

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: mschmitt@plaind.com, 216-999-4668

The Bulls' Joakim Noah was an offensive non-factor when covered by Ilgauskas in Monday night's Cavs playoff game win. In fact, Chicago's overall offense dipped significantly when Ilgauskas was on the court.

John Kuntz, The Plain Dealer Zydrunas Ilgauskas (left) and Joakim Noah (right) battle for a rebound.

Cleveland Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas has taken some criticism from fans on website forums for alleged defensive failings in the first two games of the playoff series against the Chicago Bulls.

The Cavaliers have won both games, and a look at what their defense has done with Ilgauskas on the court proves that he’s been quite helpful in shutting down the Bulls.

Ilgauskas came off the bench to play 16 minutes, 26 seconds in Game 2, and his defense – especially against Bulls center Joakim Noah – was a key to the Cavs’ 112-102 win.

Noah scored 25 points. But Ilgauskas covered Noah for 13 minutes, 43 seconds, and in that span, Noah scored just two points. Even that basket, with seven minutes left in the game, couldn’t be fairly charged to Ilgauskas. Both teams were scrambling when Noah got a fastbreak dunk off a Flip Murray pass, after the Cavaliers had run a failed fastbreak going the other way.

For the game, in Ilgauskas’ 16:26 on the court, Cleveland outscored Chicago, 32-27. Projected to a full 48-minute game, the Cavs held Chicago to 79 points (per 48 minutes) when Z played. When he was on the bench, the Bulls scored 75 points in 31:34. That projects to 112 points per a 48-minute game.

Also, Ilgauskas was playing for the entire 6:54 that LeBron James rested on the bench. James, besides his wondrous offensive skills, is considered one of the NBA’s premier defensive players. 

The case can be made that if Ilgauskas’ defense hadn’t helped the Cavs from a 77-76 deficit when he entered the game for a second time, with 1:24 left in the third quarter, to an 87-86 lead with 6:41 left in the game, the Cavs might not have won. Yes, it was the narrowest of leads, but had Ilgauskas not shut down Noah and played solid help defense, the Bulls would have most likely gone ahead by a few points.

Ilgauskas’ second blocked shot of the game came late in the third quarter, an impressive denial of Noah from behind.

In the two playoff games, the Bulls have scored just 43 points in the 25:28 Ilgauskas has played. That projects to just 80 points per 48 minutes. Ilgauskas’ importance is further highlighted by James’ being on the bench for 9:48 of the big guy’s playing time.

Clearly, if Ilgauskas’ defense was as bad as some observers say, the Cavaliers couldn’t limit opponents as they do with him on the court. During the course of the regular season, in fact, and like in most seasons, the Cavaliers had a better plus-minus points ratio with Ilgauskas playing than they did with him not playing.

A two-time all-star as picked by the Eastern Conference coaches, Ilgauskas’ main problem as a defender is one of perception. At 7-3, and, no doubt, slowed over the years by the effects of five surgeries for broken feet, Ilgauskas is an easy target, one that stands out when an opponent gets to the basket and scores. Observers notice him being scored over.

Fact is, most big guys do get scored over when athletic opponents get to the hoop, and most don’t always look pretty trying to defend the pick-and-roll, as Ilgauskas is asked to do some 30 feet from the basket. And, like Ilgauskas, most do have occasional matchup problems.

But Ilgauskas compensates for his shortcomings – again, not uncommon to most big men – with a game intelligence and non-stop hustle that usually puts him in the right place at the right time. Ironically, that might hurt him in terms of perception, because if Ilgauskas wouldn’t be where he should be when a Dwyane Wade or Manu Ginobili soars for a dunk or twists in a layup, he wouldn’t be as noticable and thus as open to ridicule.

The Bulls coach says he's "not big" on comparisons and says both LeBron James and Michael Jordan are stellar players.

View full sizeJohn Kuntz / PDChicago coach Vinny Del Negro has a point . . . LeBron James is only 25, so there is plenty of time to make comparisons.Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro said it’s impossible to compare LeBron James and his idol, Bulls legend Michael Jordan.

“They’re different,” Del Negro told Chicago reporters on Wednesday. “”You had Larry [Bird] and Magic [Johnson] who took it to a level and Michael took it to another level. I’m not big on comparing guys just because I don’t think it’s fair. To compare anybody to Michael isn’t fair because of his MVPs and championships. LeBron is only 25 with a long career left. Obviously, they’re both unbelievable players.”

Looking ahead: James is likely to win his second MVP award in a couple of weeks. He admits this one would be special because of everything the Cavs went through in order to post the league’s best record in the regular season.

“It definitely is a blessing, a humbling experience to be able to do that if it happens,” he said Wednesday. “A lot of teams have had injuries, and we were one of those teams. We lost a lot of key guys for a long period of time — eight weeks, six weeks, five weeks. We lost Z [Zydrunas Ilgauskas] for 30 days. We lost a lot of key guys, and guys were able to step up. That’s why you give a lot of credit to the teammates because they continued to stay ready and continued to play at a high level.”

Asked if James would hold the ceremony at his alma mater, ‘St. Vincent St. Mary High School, again, he smiled and said, “I don’t know yet. I’ve got to wait for the announcement first. I don’t like jumping the gun on anything.”

Well-rounded: James doesn’t like all the attention on his 40 points, 15 in the fourth quarter, that helped the Cavs win Game 2 of the series, 112-102. He also had eight assists.

“I feel like my presence on the court as an individual automatically gets my teammates involved,” he said. “No matter what’s going on throughout the course of a game, I’m always playing for the better of the team. When I’m on the court, I’m always looking to get guys involved and get myself involved. That’s just the nature of my game. Even in the fourth quarter I had the other day, I was still able to get guys involved. It’s just sometimes what I do overshadows the rest of the guys sometimes.”

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: mschmitt@plaind.com, 216-999-4668

The Bulls star likes to golf during his free time and also is a fan of the movie "Sherlock Holmes."

View full sizeJohn Kuntz / The Plain DealerChicago’s Kirk Hinrich, right, likes to watch football, but played baseball in high school.Q: What’s in your IPod?

A: A lot, a combination of rap, rock, reggae.

Q: What’s your favorite junk food?

A: Probably chicken tenders. Is that junk food?

Q: Tell me something people don’t know about you.

A: I like to golf. (What’s your handicap?) A lot. High.

Q: Football or baseball?

A: I like to watch football, but I played baseball. (He was a shortstop and leadoff hitter in high school.)

Q: Last good book you read/movie you saw.

A: Probably the last good movie I saw was “Sherlock Holmes.” On a scale of one to 10, I’d give it an eight.

– Bill Lubinger