Although some of the Cleveland Cavaliers' “exes live in Texas” like George Strait, Andre Drummond, their figuratively biggest ex, lives in the Windy City with the Chicago Bulls.
For a brief time, Drummond could've been Cleveland's franchise big man of the future until the Cavs acquired Jarrett Allen from the Brooklyn Nets in the now-infamous James Harden trade. While Allen did act as Drummond's backup for a bit after arriving in Cleveland, eventually Allen took over manning the middle and Drummond was bought out, bouncing around the NBA until landing with the Bulls.
Well, in Cleveland's 132-122 double-overtime loss to Chicago, Drummond certainly made Allen look like a backup on the floor.
Cavs get dominated on glass by Andre Drummond, Bulls
Overall, the Bulls out-rebounded the Cavs 74-39. Drummond gobbled up 26 boards of his own, dwarfing Allen's measly four rebounds. Sure, Allen's frontcourt partner Evan Mobley softened the blow by securing 13 rebounds of his own, tied for the seventh-most of Mobley's career. But it didn't change the fact Drummond worked Allen on the boards all night long, setting the tone for Chicago almost immediately and physically dominating Cleveland on the interior.
“Drummond was a huge difference maker,” said Cleveland sixth man Caris LeVert postgame. “He got into a rhythm early, getting on the glass, and he was relentless all night. He got them a lot of extra possessions and when you lose the rebounding battle like that, it’s hard to win.”
Nine of Drummond's boards come on the offensive glass, directly resulting in as many points for Chicago, which racked up 32 second-chance points overall. While nine extra points may not seem like a huge number, it did make a difference for a Bulls team that isn't on the same level talent-wise as the Cavs. Instead, by having Drummond and the rest of Chicago set the tone physically, it leveled the playing field and opened a path for the Bulls to defend their home court.
“They just dominated the boards,” said Cleveland head coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “It’s that simple. They just punished us on the glass. It’s difficult to overcome 25 offensive rebounds.
“It was from everywhere. They had guys on the perimeter flying in. There were possessions where they had multiple offensive rebounds. We just didn’t do the job on the glass tonight.”
While Wednesday's loss to Chicago isn't a total crystallization of Cleveland's season so far, it does unfortunately re-invite the shadow in the background of the morgue of last season's playoff run. The Cavs were dominated on the offensive glass against the New York Knicks, with the biggest victim being Allen at the hands of New York big man Mitchell Robinson. From there, Josh Hart, R.J. Barrett and others flew in and dominated the offensive glass for the Knicks, sending Cleveland packing in five games, ending last season much sooner than expected.
Seems eerily similar to the Cavs' loss to the Bulls, right? Well, thankfully, this loss wasn't in a best-of-seven playoff series. Moreover, this game can act as a learning experience for Cleveland, no matter how humbling it may be.
LeVert said postgame that Chicago didn't win with physicality, no matter how hard Drummond and Chicago played against Cleveland. Instead, he said that it was the mental battle the Bulls won, a matchup the Cavs typically don't lose. Look for Cleveland to bounce back in their next game against the Detroit Pistons and continue their march toward the playoffs.
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