The Cleveland Cavaliers eliminated the Chicago Bulls from the NBA Playoffs 2015 on Thursday night, while in contrast the Houston Rockets kept their hopes alive.
The Cavs were already without Kevin Love, lost Kyrie Irving to a knee injury in the first half and had a quiet game from LeBron James compared to his high standards. However, Chicago were unable to take advantage and fell out of contention with a whimper at the United Center.
James struggled to 15 points, but he had Matthew Dellavedova with 19 points and Tristan Thompson who added 13 points and 17 rebounds to thank for pushing Cleveland over the line.
It is the fifth straight conference finals that James has been to, and the 30-year-old paid tribute to his team-mates for their hard work and execution throughout this series.
In contrast, the Bulls will now have questions to answer, particularly surrounding the future of coach Tom Thibodeau as it has long been speculated that the franchise is looking to fire him.
Over in the Western Conference, the Rockets forced a Game 7 in their semi-finals clash with the Los Angeles Clippers with Houston outscoring their rivals 40-15 in the fourth quarter with a furious burst to silence the Staples Center.
Corey Brewer had 15 of his 19 points in the final quarter, Dwight Howard ended the game with 20 points and 21 rebounds while James Harden added 23 points.
However, Josh Smith played a key role too with 15 of his 19 points coming in the fourth as the Clippers now face an uphill task in going back to Houston and needing to win in order to get to the Western Conference finals.
NBA Results:
Cleveland Cavaliers 94-73 Chicago Bulls
Houston Rockets 119-107 Los Angeles Clippers
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