NBA League Pass Game of the Day: Bulls at Cavaliers (7:30 ET)

On By Littum

The Chicago Bulls face the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday in Cleveland.

Friday is an NBA Cup night, packed with exciting games from start to finish. In fact, there are exciting options all night long, from the Heat-Pacers at 7 ET for Timberwolves-Kings at 10 A.M. However, one team is doing something remarkable, possibly historic, and that is the Cavaliers. This makes Cleveland’s matchup with Chicago the game of the day. Here are five things you need to know to get ready for Bulls-Cavaliers.

1. The Striped Cavaliers: Winning 13 games in a row is rare but not unheard of in the NBA. But when those 13 wins come at the start of the “13” in the win column and are joined by a “0” in the loss column, it’s a special achievement. Cleveland is just the 6th team in NBA history to open a season with a 13-0 record. Will the streak continue Friday night?

2. Let’s not overlook the Bulls though: Chicago will not be pushovers. The Bulls are 5-7 with a 4-3 road record. They are coming off a win against the Knicks, and on Monday the Bulls and Cavs faced off in the Windy City. Cleveland won, of course, but only by six points.

3. Scoring duo pushes Cavaliers to glory: Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell are becoming the dynamic duo many expected when Mitchell joined the Cavaliers in 2022. Mitchell paces the team with 23.6 points per game. game, but Garland is right behind him with 20.5 points per game. match. Both have averaged over three made 3-pointers per game. competition, and both are converting over 40% of their attempts from beyond the arc.

4. Oh, and Cleveland’s big men thrive, too: Jarret Allen is quietly one of the best rebounders of his generation. This season he is averaging 10.7 rebounds per game. Evan Mobley is finding success under new coach Kenny Atkinson. His 8.6 rebounds per competition is a little behind his teammate, but Mobley contributes a little more all around. He is averaging 17.8 points, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steals per game. Mobley has even thrown in 2.5 assists a night for good measure.

5. Who can the Bulls turn to?: Chicago would certainly love to be the first team to hang an “L” on the Cavaliers this season. Nikola Vučević is once again posting an under-the-radar 20-and-10 campaign, but whether or not the Bulls make it will likely come down to Zach LaVine. He’s a mercurial scorer who dropped 26 on the Cavaliers on Monday and 31 against the Knicks on Wednesday. LaVine has the upside to deliver the kind of performance that hands Cleveland its first loss.