Bulls vs. Cavaliers, NBA playoffs 2015: Time, TV schedule and how to watch NBA playoffs online

The Bulls will try and steal a second road game with J.R. Smith still out due to suspension.

May 6, 2015, 1:00 PM UTC

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

With Kevin Love done for the season and J.R. Smith still out for one more game because of a suspension, the Chicago Bulls will look to take a 2-0 series lead over the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night before heading back to Chicago for Game 3.

The Bulls took Game 1 on the road, 99-92, behind the trio of Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol and Jimmy Butler. Rose led the way with 25 points, while Gasol added 21 and Butler 20. Butler delivered the dagger with 30 seconds left, hitting a tough bank shot in the lane to put Chicago up six right after LeBron James missed a shot in close that would have made it a two-point game.

Butler made James’s life difficult all night long. The Cavaliers star nearly notched a triple-double, but he had a pedestrian 19 points on 9-of-22 shooting, and he also turned the ball over six times. When Butler was the primary defender on James, he shot just 7-of-18 and had six turnovers.

Meanwhile, the Bulls took advantage of the multitude of open looks afforded them. Gasol in particular made a killing on open jumpers, as Cleveland had little answer for Chicago’s pick-and-pop game. Gasol’s outside shooting helped key a 15-0 run in the third quarter after the Cavaliers erased an early 16-point deficit to tie the game.

Looking ahead to Game 2, Cleveland will surely try and make an adjustment on those pick-and-pops. Cavaliers head coach David Blatt will also likely change up the starting lineup after Mike Miller was a disaster.

What Cleveland really needs, though, is a better effort from James. Kyrie Irving scored 30 points and Iman Shumpert added 22, so those players did their part. The Cavaliers, especially with Love out, can't afford many games where James scores 19 points on 22 shots and takes only two free throws.

With this in mind, expect a big effort from James in Game 2. It’ll be on Butler and the Bulls to try and slow him down.