Bulls win one with defense

Without a doubt, Thursday’s 86-85 win at Cleveland belongs to the defense.

Such a concept is hard to believe, considering the Bulls allowed 102.5 points last season, the team’s highest total since 1990 when NBA teams simply scored more points.

They had a good plan against the Cavs. Luol Deng, with some help, did a nice job of keeping LeBron James from driving to the basket too often. Joakim Noah and Brad Miller guarded Shaquille O’Neal without giving up too many kick-out 3-pointers. O’Neal didn’t shoot a single free throw, which could be good or bad.

Another nice development was Cavs guard Mo Williams hitting just 4 of 13 shots while Derrick Rose guarded him most of the night.

Several Bulls players credited assistant Bob Ociepka, with help from Pete Myers, for organizing the defense this season.

"We focused a lot on defense in training camp,” Deng said. “We've got a lot of guys who play different positions, so we're able to mix and match it.”

CLOSE CALLS
Joakim Noah seemed to play perfect defense on the last play of the game, but it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see James get a foul call.

The Cavs took possession with 4.3 seconds left trailing by one. James headed to the basket and lost the ball out of bounds when his elbow struck Noah’s chest.

“We played good ‘D,’ forced him to his left,” Noah said. “You definitely don't want to force him to his right.”

The Bulls got a couple of rough calls down the stretch, most obviously when Taj Gibson got flattened by O’Neal with 4:48 left and no foul was called.

After the game, Gibson reported that Shaq treated him very well, offering words of encouragement when the game ended and admitting that the one play should have been a foul, but warning Gibson that rookies don’t get calls in the NBA.

LEBRON STRUGGLES OFF COURT
James was injured twice in the second quarter when he ventured into the stands. First, he was headed downcourt on a fastbreak when the whistle blew stopping play.

Running alongside Kirk Hinrich, James appeared to be laughing about something as Hinrich playfully took a swipe at the ball. Then as James continued past the basket and off the court, he twisted his left ankle after tripping on a television cable.

A few minutes later, the ball was poked away from John Salmons on the break. James gave chase and tried in vain to save it inbounds. He then crashed into a courtside cameraman and collided with a second-row seat. Both times, he remained seated in the stands for several minutes.

SIZING UP SHAQ
It’s early in the season, but I don’t like how the Cavaliers look with O’Neal in the lineup. While he put up decent numbers against the Bulls (14 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks), he slows everything down. I thought the Cavs spent too much time watching O’Neal operate in the low post and that was time when no other shooters got involved.

Cleveland tried playing O’Neal and 7-3 Zydrunas Ilgauskas together at times, but the 34-year-old Ilgauskas went 0-for-9 from the field.

Naperville native Anthony Parker played well for the Cavs and hit 3-of-3 shots from 3-point range. But one drastic difference from last season was Delonte West. He played 26 ½ minutes on Thursday and scored 2 points.

I would imagine West’s personal issues are taking a toll, but he gave the Cavs a nice spark last season and that’s been missing this season.

The Cavs went 39-2 at home last season. This year, they’re 2-2.