The Cleveland Cavaliers will take on the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night in the first game of the 2015-16 NBA season. Cleveland finished last season as the second seed in the Eastern Conference while the Bulls finished as the third seed.
The Cavaliers have had an interesting offseason to say the least whether it was injuries, potential coaching changes or contract negotiations but they are ready to start their road to another potential NBA Championship this season.
David Blatt is back coaching the team despite reports that he might be on the outs. Tristan Thompson finally got his contract situation figured out last week and will be available to play for the Cavs on Tuesday off the bench. Kevin Love is fully healthy and will also be available for Cleveland as he is expected to start and play a full complement of minutes. LeBron James has also declared himself ready for this game after having an anti-inflammatory injection in his back earlier this month.
Kyrie Irving will not be available for this game as he is still working his way back from the knee injury he suffered in last season's NBA finals. It is unknown exactly when Irving will be back but the Cavaliers plan to be cautious with him. While Irving is out Mo Williams will start at point guard after signing with the Cavaliers this offseason and he will be backed up by Matthew Dellavedova. Iman Shumpert is also out for the Cavaliers as he is still recovering from a wrist injury he suffered early in the preseason.
For the Bulls they also have a very similar roster to last season but they do have a new head coach as Fred Hoiberg will be coaching in his first NBA game on Tuesday night. Hoiberg has said he plans to limit his starters' minutes a little more than Tom Thibodeau did and he is also going to make some lineup changes.
Joakim Noah will come off the bench at least at the start of the season as Hoiberg goes with Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic in the frontcourt. Gasol and Noah didn't work as well together as initially hoped last season so Hoiberg decided to make a change. Noah and Taj Gibson will be the bigs off the bench.
Derrick Rose is expected to play on Tuesday night after suffering a fractured orbital bone on the first day of training camp. Rose was able to play in the Bulls' final preseason game and will wear a mask until the injury fully heals.
The biggest injury the Bulls are dealing with is to their starting shooting guard Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy is out after having back surgery and will likely miss about a month of the regular season. Without Dunleavy Hoiberg will likely start Jimmy Butler and Tony Snell on the wings.
The Cavaliers eliminated the Bulls from the playoffs last year in six games in the second round of the playoffs. Cleveland also took three of the four regular season meetings a year ago. These two teams should both be around late in the playoffs again this season and it would surprise nobody to see them fight it out in the postseason again this year.
Cavaliers projected starting lineup: Mo Williams, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Timofey Mozgov
Bulls projected starting lineup: Derrick Rose, Tony Snell, Jimmy Butler, Nikola Mirotic, Pau Gasol
The game tips off at 8 P.M. Eastern time and to watch the live broadcast go here. For the Cavaliers radio broadcast go here and for the Bulls radio broadcast go here.
