Short-Handed Cavs Fall to Bulls, 106-94

The Cleveland Cavaliers (minus Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love) fell to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night, 106-94.

Taj Gibson (9-of-10 shooting) and Jimmy Butler (20 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists) were thorns in the side of the Cavs, and Chicago received solid contributions off the bench from Doug McDermott (17 points) and Nikola Mirotic (14 points).

Jordan McRae took advantage of an opportunity to receive significant playing time, scoring 21 points, making it his second 20-plus point performance in the last three games.

Channing Frye scored 15 points, starting the game at power forward for Love, who was recovering from food poisoning.

LeBron James scored 31 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and passed for seven assists.

Cleveland falls to 26-8 with the loss, while Chicago improves to 18-18.

The Cavs are back in action on Friday night at Brooklyn beginning a six-game road trip, where LeBron and company will hope to greet Irving and Love back on the court.