Giddey had 11 rebounds and 11 assists. He also matched a career high with five three-pointers. Nikola Vucevic added 20 points and nine rebounds in the opener of the home-and-home series.
The Bulls shot 56.2 per cent overall and made 14 of 36 three-pointers on the way to a rather convincing win after losing eight of nine. They led by 15 in the third quarter and went on a run in the fourth to break the game back open on the way to a rare win over Cleveland. They had dropped 12 of 13 against the Cavaliers.
Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 32 points, but the Cavaliers fell to 15-13 with their seventh loss in 10 games, the latest troubling performance for a team considered a favourite in the Eastern Conference. They didn’t sustain their 13th loss last season until March 19.
Jaylon Tyson scored 21. Darius Garland added 15 points and six assists
The Bulls led 106-97 midway through the fourth when Vucevic nailed a three to spark an 11-3 run. He also had a layup and a tip-in during that stretch. Giddey broke for a layup, and White added two free throws to make it 117-100 with 4:59 remaining.
Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu missed his third consecutive game because of a sprained right thumb. The Chicago product is fourth on the team in scoring at 15.2 points per game.
“Rest is probably going to be the best thing, but he’s probably not going to have time to rest it for it to be fully healed,” coach Billy Donovan said.
The teams meet again in Cleveland on Friday.
