By Richard Kagan

Chicago didn’t see its favorite son tonight.

Derrick Rose did not suit up for Cleveland. Rose is healing from an ankle injury and is expected back with the team after an excused lengthy team absence.

The Cavs didn’t need him. They turned to Dwyane Wade, another ex-Bull, who came out and scored 24 points on 9 for 13 shooting. He made all 5 free-throw attempts. Kevin Love had 24 points and 12 boards, and LeBron James, took a breather, scoring 23 for the Cavs as it rolled past Chicago, 113-91; their 12th consecutive victory.

The loss extends Chicago’s streak to nine games.  The Chicago Bears have their own losing streak going, falling 15-14 to San Francisco.  Someone score some points!

Chicago trailed 61-45 at half and never threatened to make it a game. Cleveland had too many scorers.  The Bulls managed to chip the lead down to 19, but Cleveland pushed back and brought to a 20 point deficit, most of the second half.

Kevin Dunn had 15 points for Chicago. Robin Lopez scored 14 along with Justin Holiday. Rookie forward Lauri Markkanen had 13 points. The Bulls don’t have the horses and were quickly corralled.  Chicago shot 41.5% for the game.  The team has shot 41.3% for the season. So, it just about hit the mark.

The Bulls (3-19) remind one of the “little engine, that well, has some scoring issues.” Chicago is waiting for Niko Mirotic to make his season debut after missing 20+ games as a result of an altercation with Bobby Portis. Mirotic says he’s ready to play and has put this incident in the past. The Bulls will welcome him with open arms, when he is ready to take the court.

Monday the Bulls played an elite team and paid for it.