A rivalry resumes in the Eastern Conference today when the Chicago Bulls head to the Quicken Loans Arena to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers, who reportedly fired head coach David Blatt and replaced him with former assistant Tyronn Lue.
The Bulls are currently on a two-game losing slide following defeats to the defending National Basketball Association (NBA) champions Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics.
Along with the back-to-back losses, the Bulls are also finding it hard to win recently, going 2–6 in their last eight games, causing them to fall to the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference standings with a 24–18 record.
Despite the struggles, Chicago is already holding a win versus the Cavaliers after beating them in a thriller during both teams' season opener.
But it will be different this time as Cleveland is under a new head coach in Lue heading to the matchup.
The Cavs made a drastic change to their coaching staff, parting ways with Blatt who was hired before the 2014–15 season.
Despite being a rookie coach in the league, Blatt guided the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals last season but they fell to the Warriors while playing with a depleted lineup because of injuries.
This campaign was another chance for Blatt to help the Cavaliers to the championship stage, but after one and a half season was deprived of that opportunity as he was sacked.
In a report by Yahoo Sports, Cavaliers general manager David Griffin stated in a news conference that the "team's inability to develop a true identity" under Blatt led to him being relieved.
The Cavaliers need to move on from the firing of Blatt and must focus with the task at hand when they host the Bulls.
Setting aside the fiasco with Blatt, Cleveland is still the best team in the East with a 30–11 record while currently riding a two-game winning streak.
The game between the Bulls and Cavaliers takes place today, Jan. 23, at 8:30 p.m. EST. To watch via live stream, click here.
