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Dunleavy comes off bench to help Bulls beat Cavs

Nov 12, 2013 - 7:28 AM Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Mike Dunleavy fueled a late-game rally to propel the Chicago Bulls to a 96-81 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.

Chicago led by just three with less than five minutes remaining when Dunleavy caught a feed from Derrick Rose and drilled a deep 3-pointer for an 81-75 advantage.

Carlos Boozer then rebounded a Kyrie Irving missed floater and quickly gave it up to Rose, who went coast-to-coast for a layup to force a Cleveland timeout.

Dunleavy then hit a pair of free throws and another jumper during the Bulls' 18-6 surge and came up with a steal and assist to Luol Deng in transition to put the game away.

Boozer and Rose netted 17 and 16 points, respectively, to lead Chicago while Dunleavy poured in 15 off the bench.

"We had some chances to break it open, early on, each quarter," Dunleavy said. "They just hung in there. Fortunately in the 4th, we were able to pull away."

Irving's early-season shooting slump continued as he scored just 16 points on 5-of-19 from the field. Andrew Bynum scored 11 in his first start since May, 2012, and Tristan Thompson registered a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

"We just didn't execute. We need to learn like in baseball to hit singles and not go for homerun passes all the time," Cleveland guard Jarrett Jack said.

Cleveland stayed within striking distance throughout despite its all-star Irving not making a field goal until 43 seconds remained in the third quarter. Cleveland won the period 24-19 but still trailed 64-60 heading into the fourth.

A C.J. Miles layup and Irving triple early in the final period pulled the Cavs to within a point, but they never got over the hump.

Boozer's jumper at the 8:20 mark put the Bulls back up three before Dunleavy was fouled shooting a triple and sank all three at the line.

Earlier, Bynum scored seven points in the initial 5:10 of the contest, but all five Chicago starters had four points after the first and the Bulls led 20-17.

Rookie Matthew Dellavedova hit a pull-up jumper to start the second but Taj Gibson's layup capped a 9-0 Bulls' charge. Chicago led 45-36 at halftime.

Game Notes

Rose injured his right hamstring late in the contest. Bulls' coach Tom Thibodeau called it "minor" and Rose will be re-evaluated tomorrow ... Chicago shot 24-of-26 from the free throw line ... The Cavaliers lost the turnover battle, 18-11.