Cleveland’s two-big lineup got bullied against Chicago

The Chicago Bulls countered Cleveland's two-big lineup by starting two big men of their own. The combination of Nikola Vucevic and Andre Drummond dominated the Cavaliers in Chicago's 132-123 win, combining for 39 rebounds - the same amount Cleveland had as a team. They outscored the Mobley-Allen duo 41-36, and outrebounded them 39-17.

Mobley and Allen are both good players and strong defenders. Together they're great at protecting the paint, but neither one stretches the floor. Mobley has made 11 three-pointers on the season, while Allen hasn't made any.

In other words, they're both centers. Mobley has enough defensive versatility to guard forwards, but on offense, they both have the skill sets of centers. Nearly 90 percent of Allen's shots come within 10 feet of the basket, while just over 80 percent of Mobley's shots do as well. They don't pass a lot either, combining for 5.5 assists per game.

Opposing defenses can simply ignore Mobley on the perimeter when he plays alongside Allen, overloading the paint to deny Cleveland drives. That's one reason the Cavaliers surprisingly thrived while Mobley and All-Star Darius Garland were out: They weren't playing two centers together, and to a lesser extent, weren't playing two point guards in Garland and Donovan Mitchell.

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff has addressed this in his rotations, subbing out Garland and Mobley together and doing to same with Mitchell and Allen. But when they do play two bigs together, they really need to dominate the boards.

That's what doomed them in the playoffs last season, when the New York Knicks grabbed 41 more rebounds than the Cavaliers in a five-game first-round win. The only game Cleveland won was the one game they outrebounded New York.

Of course, it's also difficult to stop Andre Drummond on the boards. After Wednesday's game, Drummond was called "the best to ever do it" when it comes to rebounding, by none other than Andre Drummond.