Bulls Squeak by Cavs 86-85

By Sean Mackey

Savor this moment and say hello to your Central Division leading Chicago Bulls! The guys in the red jerseys were able to win another ridiculously close game Thursday night when they beat the Cleveland LeBrons 86-85. Luol Deng posted a solid 15 points and 7 rebounds and Derrick Rose had a solid double-double with 14 points and 11 assists.

It was another low scoring affair, but I was happy to see the win. LeBron James was denied a call in the last second claiming he was fouled going up for a layup. The refs amazingly didn't give him his usual star call and the Bulls won by just 1 point.

The Bulls defense has been fantastic and while a lot of columnists and bloggers will be quick to discredit Vinny Del Negro, I believe he actually is coaching the team now and the players are buying into his system. While their brand of basketball is a little on the boring side, they're winning and keeping opposing teams scoring WAY down. The Bulls still are lacking a scorer and a player to score in the post but until then, maybe their scrappy ways will get them the 49 wins it got a very similar 2006 squad. Derrick Rose is obviously going to have to take over much like he did late in last nights game if they want any chance of making it to the playoffs and passed the 1st round. It would also be nice to show that this group can get 50 wins without having a star player, making it an attractive option for a high profile free agent next season. Wade or Bosh would make this team a high profile contender.

Although, it's a little off topic, I've came to the conclusion that LeBron James is playing on a terrible team right now. The addition of Shaq has done nothing but help sell a few more Adidas jerseys. There is no rhyme or reason to their offense, just give the ball to LeBron and let him create. If this continues, Mike Brown's job is going to be in serious jeopardy come the holidays. LeBron and Shaq looked completely uninterested the entire game and so did the rest of their sad cast of jackass's. LeBron has taken this team as far as he can, they need to get him a Scottie Pippen or I could seriously see him leaving for New Jersey or Miami.

Bulls play the Bobcats tommorrow night on WGN America, hopefully they can continue their winning ways. Go Bulls!