Jan. 20--CLEVELAND -- The struggles continued.
LeBron James scored 12 points and the Cavaliers grabbed a 54-39 halftime lead over the Bulls Monday night at Quicken Loans Arena. The Bulls shot just 29.8 percent in another low-energy affair.
Taj Gibson's nine points led the Bulls. Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol combined to shoot 5-for-28.
As expected, Kevin Love returned from missing one game with back spasms. He had nine points and eight rebounds.
It's a different Cavaliers team than the one that ruined the Bulls' home opener with an overtime victory on Oct. 31. They've added Timofey Mozgov and J.R. Smith, who started Monday night, and Iman Shumpert, who is close to returning from injury.
The Bulls remained without Mike Dunleavy and Joakim Noah and started Rose, Kirk Hinrich, Butler, Gibson and Gasol.
Rose has averaged 24.2 points on 49.4 percent shooting over his last five games.
"I think he's gaining confidence," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "I think he has gone through a long period of time where he wasn't playing. He's getting that competitive edge back. That's what I think made him so special prior to the injuries. Now he's attacking again. No opponent wants to see him like that."
