CHICAGO _ For now, complacency has been banished by the Cavaliers.
Facing the struggling Chicago Bulls on Monday night at United Center, LeBron James proved that with a spectacular missed slam that had so much force that a teammate had to catch him from what would have been just as spectacular a fall.
The Cavs' second unit continued to dominate and James and Kevin Love again provided a potent one-two punch as the Cavs extended the league's longest active winning streak to 12 games with a 113-91 victory.
The Cavs tied the franchise record for consecutive road victories with seven, which has been achieved five times. The last previously came from Nov. 21-Dec. 17, 1997.
Wednesday at home against the Sacramento Kings, the Cavs will try to match the franchise's longest regular-season winning streak of 13, achieved from March 7-31, 2009 and from Jan. 16-Feb. 11, 2010.
Love needed only three quarters to reach a double-double, with 24 points and 13 rebounds in 23 minutes. James added 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 34 minutes, but saw his string of double-doubles snapped at five.
The Cavs bench totaled 49 points paced by Dwyane Wade's 24, one off his season high. Hitting 9-of-13 field goals, Wade reached double figures for the seventh consecutive game.
The Cavs also extended their string of making at least 10 3-pointers to 13 consecutive games. The team record is 16 twice, both of those in 2016.
After scoring the Cavs' last 13 points in Saturday's home triumph over Memphis, James pitched in the first seven against the Bulls as the Cavs cut the Bulls' 9-3 lead to 9-7. Consecutive baskets by Love, one a 3-pointer, put the visitors on top.
But it was a determined stretch with James playing with the second unit over the last 1:09 of the first quarter and the first 5:57 of the second when the Cavs broke the game open.
With James joining Wade, Jeff Green, Kyle Korver and Channing Frye, the Cavs went on a 17-2 run that pushed the lead to 40-22. Green had seven in the surge, Wade six and James four.
When the rebuilding Bulls (3-19) battled back to within 40-29, the Cavs posted a 10-4 run, with three each from James and Korver, a slam by Green and two free throws by Wade.
In the first half, the Cavs defense held the Bulls to 25 percent shooting from 3-point range and 41 percent from the field, while the Cavs hit 55 percent of their field goals and 35 percent beyond the arc.
The Cavs kept up the pressure in the third quarter, with Love scoring 10 points in the first 2 { minutes and Jae Crowder adding a 3-pointer to push the margin to 74-50 at the 9:26 mark.
The Bulls went 2-13 in November, losing five games by six points or less, then fell by one Friday against the Sacramento Kings.
They were so overmatched that Cavs coach Tyronn Lue was able to send in rookie Cedi Osman for James with 5:55 remaining. At a timeout with 4:14 to go, rookie Ante Zizic joined Osman, Frye, Green and Jose Calderon.
James wore his determined game face in the opening minutes and may have given his teammates the same warning he voiced at shootaround.
"We better come out here and play our game or we'll lose. It's just that simple," James said. "They play hard, they move the ball, they share the ball, and if we don't come out here and play our game, we'll lose."
