NBA League Pass game of the day: Bulls at Cavaliers (7:30 ET)

Friday is an NBA Cup night, packed with exciting matchups from start to finish. In fact, there are exciting options all night, from Heat-Pacers at 7 ET to Timberwolves-Kings at 10 ET. However, one team is doing something remarkable, possibly historical, and that’s the Cavaliers. This makes Cleveland’s matchup with Chicago the game of the day. Here are five things to know to get ready for Bulls-Cavaliers.
1. The streaky Cavaliers: Winning 13 games in a row is rare, though not unheard of in the NBA. But when those 13 wins come at the start of the “13” in the win column and are joined by a “0” in the loss column, it’s a special achievement. Cleveland is just the 6th team in NBA history to open a season with a 13-0 record. Will the streak continue Friday night?
2. Let’s not overlook the Bulls, though: Chicago won’t be pushovers. The Bulls are 5-7, with a 4-3 record on the road. They’re coming off a win against the Knicks, and on Monday the Bulls and Cavs squared off in the Windy City. Cleveland won, of course, but only by six points.
3. The scoring duo pushing the Cavaliers to glory: Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell are becoming the dynamic duo many expected when Mitchell joined the Cavaliers in 2022. Mitchell paces the team at 23.6 points per game, but Garland is right behind him at 20.5 points per game. Both have averaged over three made 3-pointers per contest, and both are converting over 40% of their attempts from beyond the arc.
4. Oh, and Cleveland’s big men are thriving as well: Jarret Allen is, quietly, one of the best rebounders of his generation. This season he’s averaging 10.7 rebounds per game. Evan Mobley is finding success under new coach Kenny Atkinson. His 8.6 rebounds per contest is a smidge behind his teammate, but Mobley is contributing a bit more all around. He’s averaging 17.8 points, 1.5 blocks, and 1.0 steals per game. Mobley has even thrown in 2.5 assists a night for good measure.
5. Who can the Bulls turn to?: Chicago would surely love to be the first squad to hang an “L” on the Cavaliers this season. Nikola Vučević is, once again, posting an under-the-radar 20-and-10 campaign, but whether or not the Bulls pull off the upset likely comes down to Zach LaVine. He’s a mercurial scorer who dropped 26 on the Cavaliers on Monday and 31 against the Knicks on Wednesday. LaVine has the upside to deliver the kind of performance that hands Cleveland its first loss.