For most of this season, the Chicago Bulls have been steady in the clutch.
It was a point of pride for a team attempting to upend its reputation in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls won all four of their games this season that closed with a deficit of five points or fewer in the final five minutes of regulation. Those wins required guts and a few last-gasp game-winners — and helped to fuel the Bulls’ surprising rise to the top of the conference standings.
But that streak of late-game success ended Saturday night in Cleveland with a 128-122 loss to the Cavaliers for the Bulls’ clutch defeat of the season.
The severity of the collapse was only sharpened by the contrast of the Bulls’ offensive momentum in the first half. Despite allowing the Cavaliers to open with a 7-0 run, the Bulls wrangled their defense to limit the hosts in the second quarter, taking a 16-point lead into halftime and expanding that lead to 19 in the second half.
But after securing clutch wins early in this season through sheer effort, the Bulls crumbled under the force of Donovan Mitchell’s sudden reignition from the floor.
The Cavaliers star scored only three points in the first half on 1-for-10 shooting. The Bulls, however, knew that could last only so long. Mitchell quickly heated up in the second half, scoring 26 points while peppering 3-pointers to fuel a comeback.
The Bulls did not beat the Cavaliers last season — in large part because of Mitchell, who averaged 33.7 points against them. His reign of terror continued Saturday against the Bulls, who have won a regular-season game in the series since Feb. 28, 2024.
The Bulls did not score in the final 106 seconds of the game, missing five consecutive shots and failing to draw any shooting fouls as the Cavaliers ripped off a closing 12-0 run, the first eight of which came from Mitchell — in 65 seconds.
At 6-3, the Bulls have tumbled from first to the fourth in the East in a little more than 24 hours — they fell to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks 126-110 on Friday night in Milwaukee. This is the team’s first losing streak of the season.
Here are five takeaways from the loss.
1. The Bulls won the perimeter battle.
Whether it’s pace of play, defensive scheming or simply early-season luck, the Bulls are continuing to throw teams off their rhythm from behind the 3-point arc.
The Cavaliers were helpless from long range in the first half. They made their first 3-pointer of the game, then missed their next 13 attempts. Mitchell notably missed all five of his first-half attempts from deep as the Cavs went 7-for-25 as a collective. Meanwhile, the Bulls profited off their efficiency on a significantly lower volume of shots, going 10-for-14 in the half.
Guard Donovan Mitchell celebrates near the end of the Cavaliers’ 128-112 win over the Bulls on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Cleveland. (Phil Long/AP)
Only one thing changed after halftime — Mitchell. The rest of the Cavaliers went 5-for-14 in a slight improvement from their tepid first half. But Mitchell singlehandedly lifted his team out of its shooting slump by going 5-for-7 on 3s in the second half. De’Andre Hunter also scored 29 points, and Evan Mobley added 24.
2. Bench offset low-scoring starting five.
The Bulls bench rallied to buoy scoring, combining for 58 points (to the Cavaliers’ 18) in another balanced performance from a roster that does not gravitate around a singular scoring star. Jalen Smith led the reserves with 18 points, followed by Kevin Huerter (15), Ayo Dosunmu (14) and Patrick Williams (11).
Only three Bulls finished with fewer than 10 points, including starters Nikola Vučević and Matas Buzelis, who scored nine and four points, respectively. Buzelis did not close the game after struggling with turnovers (three) and fouls (four), logging 17 minutes, 35 seconds in total.
3. Josh Giddey had an injury scare.
Bulls guard Josh Giddey, left, drives against Cavaliers forward De’Andre Hunter on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Cleveland. (Phil Long/AP)
The Bulls lost a little oxygen late in the third quarter when Giddey appeared to suffer an ankle injury.
The guard squared up to De’Andre Hunter in a defensive stance late in the third quarter when the forward feinted to his left, crossed the ball hard to dodge right and sent Giddey tumbling to the floor. Giddey’s right foot seemed to stick to the court, causing his ankle to bow outward in an awkward roll. After a moment of pain on the hardwood, the guard limped off the court and into the locker room under his own power.
Giddey suffered a sprain in the same ankle late last season but missed only one game. This time he managed to return in a matter of minutes. But Giddey still appeared somewhat uncomfortable after coming back from the locker room, missing all five of his shots after the injury. He finished with 15 points on 5-for-18 shooting with nine rebounds and six assists.
4. A Midwestern reunion.
The Bulls’ Isaac Okoro keeps the ball from Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell during the first half Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Cleveland. (Phil Long/AP)
The game reunited two sides of a trade that marked the only significant offseason action for the Bulls — sending Lonzo Ball to the Cavaliers in exchange for Isaac Okoro.
The homecoming was significant for Okoro. The Cavaliers selected the forward with the fifth pick in the 2020 draft. He went on to play five seasons in Cleveland, where he established himself as a prominent defensive stopper and went to the playoffs three times.
Okoro stood out in his first game back in Cleveland, posting a season- and team-high 19 points with four rebounds and three four assists. Ball had a quieter presence in the Cavaliers win, tallying two points, four rebounds and four assists.
5. Technical difficulties.
It was a strange night at Rocket Mortgage Arena.
When players arrived three hours before tip, they were greeted with only half of a basketball court. The Cleveland Monsters went to overtime in an AHL game earlier in the day, which created a time crunch for the arena staff to transition the playing surface from an ice rink to a basketball court. As a result, pregame warmups were delayed for both teams.
Players noticed during second-half warmups that the rim on one basket was slightly askew. Arena staff brought out a level to ensure the rim’s symmetry, drawing amusement from both teams.
Technical anomalies continued throughout the game as the officiating staff mistakenly called violations on the Bulls twice when the shot clock did not reset despite the ball hitting the rim before time expired. Both calls were overturned but drew considerable frustration from Bulls players and coaches.