Bold Prediction Bulls/Cavs: Bulls Will Sweep

Monday's Bulls - Cavs matchup was not as close as it seemed. The Bulls absolutely dominated the game in every way. They hit half of their shots, more than half from three, outrebounded the Cavs, and had more steals. The also got to the line more. The only reason the game was as close as it was is that the Bulls uncharacteristially shot abysmally from the line, hitting 9 of 16. But a closer look shows two reasons the Cavs don't have a chance - and it has nothing to do with high scorers Derrick Rose and Kyrie Irving.

Pau Gasol - Gasol was huge on Monday and there's no reason to expect otherwise going forward. There is nobody to matchup with Gasol's skillset now that Kevin Love is out for the year. Pau killed it inside and outside, because no defender could stop him from doing one of those things. When Mozgov was on him, he'd float out for an easy jumper. When someone quicker was on him, he banged it in from under the rim. The Cavs have no chance against him, short of a double team. Given the Bulls scoring depth, that's a KO.

Jimmy Butler - Butlers performance on Lebron was a huge part of game one. Lebron shot the ball pretty badly for Lebron, hitting only 9 of 22 shots. More telling was his six turnovers. Having Jimmy on the court at the same time as Lebron neutralized his threat. The Cavs had a

+/- of -11 when Lebron was on the court. With fewer options outside of Kyrie Irving (who couldn't do more than he's already doing), it seems unlikely they'll turn this around.