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Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers didnt open their season how many anticipated. But they didnt have much time to dwell on Thursdays disappointing home opener, and that showed with a hard-fought overtime victory against a division rival on Friday. James scored 36 points with eight rebounds to lead Cleveland to a 114-108 win over the Chicago Bulls in the first installment of what proves to be a heated rivalry between the two teams. Tristan Thompson deposited 16 points with 13 rebounds -- 12 coming on the offensive glass -- and Kevin Love contributed a 16-point, 16-rebound double-double for the Cavs, who were 2-8 over their last 10 in Chicago. Kyrie Irving totaled 23 points in the win. Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich each scored 20 points for the Bulls, but Rose left the game late in the third with a sprained left ankle and did not return to the contest. Pau Gasol netted 15 points with nine boards and six blocks, and Mike Dunleavy added 14 points in the setback. James, who tallied 17 points and committed eight turnovers in Thursdays 95-90 loss at home to the New York Knicks, scored the first eight points for Cleveland in the extra session for a 106-102 lead with 1:30 left. Hinrich converted a pair of free throws to make it a one-possession game, then James missed a jumper at the other end, but Thompson was there as he was all night to haul in the offensive board and he proceeded to slam over a pair of defenders to extend the lead. A moving screen from Joakim Noah coming out of a timeout led to Irvings free throws in the closing seconds to secure the win. A 15-4 run by Chicago to begin the fourth quarter gave it a lead for the first time since the opening quarter. Aaron Brooks tallied eight points -- including the last five -- during the run to help the hosts grab an 84-82 lead. James immediately answered at the other end with a layup before Anderson Varejao made a short jumper in the lane to help Cleveland regain the lead. The Bulls took a 90-89 advantage with just over four minutes left when Noah hit Taj Gibson with a nice bounce pass in the lane, with the latter finishing on a dunk. The seesaw affair continued as Love knocked down a pair of free throws. Following a turnover by James, Dunleavy found Hinrich in the left corner for an open 3-pointer. Dunleavy then found Hinrich for another successful trey after an Irving turnover and the Bulls mounted a 96-91 lead with 1:15 to play. Out of a timeout, James lofted a pass up to Love for a slam, but Hinrich responded once again with a jumper to maintain the five-point edge. Tony Snell committed a foul on James, who sunk the ensuing free throws, which preceded Irvings three-point play to tie it at 98-98 with 27.9 seconds remaining. A stagnant play drawn up for Chicago produced an air ball at the buzzer of the shot clock from Hinrich, and Cleveland got the ball with 3.9 seconds left, but Loves deep 3-pointer was off the mark as time expired. Earlier, Thompson provided a lift off the Cavs bench in the first quarter. Chicago made 11-of-19 (57.9 percent) attempts from the floor, compared to 11- of-23 (47.8 percent) for Cleveland, but the Bulls were outrebounded 14-7 -- including 7-2 on the offensive glass. Thompson pulled down four of those offensive boards and added four points and two assists, helping the visitors take a 28-27 lead after 12 minutes. Uncharacteristically, Chicago was outrebounded 27-15 in the opening half and despite making over 50 percent of its shots, trailed 58-52 at the break. Dunleavy and Snell wrapped 3-pointers around an alley-oop dunk by Love to trim the deficit to three, 71-68, with under three minutes left in the third. Cleveland would respond, however, finishing the final 1:47 on a 7-1 run to take a 78-69 margin into the final frame. Game Notes Bulls guard Jimmy Butler missed his second straight game to start the season due to a sprained thumb ... Thompson tied the franchise record for offensive rebounds ... The Bulls went 13-2 against the Cavs while James was with the Heat ... Cleveland outrebounded Chicago 52-42 ... The Cavs scored 25 points off of 20 turnovers ... Cleveland owned a 58-44 edge in the paint ... Brooks finished with 11 points and Snell knocked in 10 ... Shawn Marion netted four points off the bench in the win, the only other Cav reserve to score .. Noah pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds. Derrius Guice Youth Jersey . has left the San Jose Sharks to become the Boston Bruins director of player personnel. Sean Taylor Youth Jersey . He was signed to help with depth to the receiving corps because of the loss of Shamawd Chambers to the 6-game injured list. https://www.redskinssportsgoods.com/Womens-Doug-Williams-Inverted-Jersey/ .J. - Henrik Lundqvist has done more than set a couple of franchise records for the New York Rangers this week. Wes Martin Jersey . -- Adrian Peterson remained in a walking boot to treat a high ankle sprain on his left leg on Wednesday, and coach Leslie Frazier said he will not play on Sunday against Atlanta if he cant hit the practice field in the next two days. DaRon Payne Jersey . -- The Vancouver Whitecaps remained unbeaten with a scoreless draw at the New England Revolution on Saturday.In the past week or so, there has been a 20-round shootout on one night, and eight-round and nine-round shootouts on another night. The Florida Panthers alone have had four shootouts (including their 20-round outing against the Capitals) in the last six games, with three of them reaching extra innings - Luongo has made 29 saves on 35 attempts in those games. The amount of shootouts of late has once again sparked debate over the game-deciding practice - whether you like it or not. The one thing that has been consistent in the debate is that fans want an end to the game, period. It’s amazing to think that it wasnt long ago that ties were still a part of the equation. Regardless of what you think of the shootout, it still has to be better than the old 1-1 tie that left not only fans, but players feeling empty for not having a conclusion to the game, good or bad. Now Im on record, of not loving the shootout. I believe the game is so high paced, and so high skilled, that there has to be a way to extend the four-on-four play, or to play a three-on-three format. I believe with either option, you will see more games end in OT and, as a last resort, have the shootout until you get to the conclusion. I know and realize there are bigger entities to deal with in this debate. The most obvious concern, as far as NHLPA would be concerned, is extra strain being put on players to play more minutes in a night, in addition to building schedules, travel after games and many more details that have to be considered. It’s obviously tougher than just saying ‘lets add five more minutes to overtime,’ but I still would like to see a longer frame. I have to preface my comments with saying, that I am 0-2 in shootouts in my career, and both reached extra shooters. So people may think my argument comes from a negative bias, but if you know me, you know it’s not coming from a place of disgruntlement. Instead, my quarrel with the display is more from a hockey fans perspective, that the pace of the game as well as the skill level is at an all-time high right now, and that some of the overtimes I have witnessed this year have been outstanding and left fans literally dying for the clock to continue - even if were for a few more precious minutes of three-on-three. An extra frame with fewer players would allow even more ice for the best players in the world to showcase their talents. And maybe that is to come, but we will have to wait and see. The following are a couple things I have noticed about shootouts in my experience both as a player and as a goalie coach in the NHL. Due to the shootout being a relatively sudden addition (brought into the NHL in 2005/06 season) the adjustment was huge for the goalies. It all began with the fact that none of them had grown up playing with it. All goalies worked on breakaways in practice and faced a few rare penalty shots in their careers, but suddenly precious points were on the line and a main focus had to be shifted to stopping these previously uncommon shots. Facing a shooter in the shootout is extremely different for a goaltender than facing a breakaway. The pace in a game where someone is in alone, though still fast, is changed by shooter’s knowledge of an impending back checker. That defender, in essence, will force the shooter to be very quick with his decision-making and his play, so you may deal with one straight on move, or a couple if you’re dealing with an elite scorer, but everything was done at a real fast rate and, usually, straight on. Now, enter the shootout, a completely different animal. There is no back checker and players are free to go outside the Zambonied lanes, allowing them change their angle or point of attack. Shooters coulld also speed up and slow down at any rate to try and throw goaltenders off their typical depth in net.dddddddddddd Finally, the highly skilled players would really get to shine with some ridiculous moves. I can vividly remember in my playing days when we used to do breakaways or shootouts in practice for fun. On those days, when a guy made an unreal move to torch me or my goalie partner and leave you looking real silly, I’d yell at him, “do it in a game.” The point being, both of us knew full well he couldnt pull those moves off with the presence of the pressure from a back checker. Enter the addition of the shootout, and suddenly, players were free to pull off those moves with a full point on the line. This meant veteran goaltenders who had treated shootouts in practice as a novelty for their entire career, were thrown into a situation where the shots were for real. Being that it really wasnt part of their toolbox or repertoire as an NHL goalie, it became a huge challenge for guys. Some goaltenders really struggled with it early on, because they treated it like a breakaway, while players were smart enough to catch onto their pace and slowed things down to make a play. Some shooters tried to further level the playing field by adding spin-o-ramas, and all sorts of other real neat plays. I soon noticed that some of the younger goaltenders in the league were having more success against shooters because they were familiar and practiced with it at lower ranks. This meant they felt comfortable with it by the time they made the jump to the NHL. The second thing I noticed and experienced is how big the mental challenge was. There is always pressure in goaltending, but the shootout added a different type. There was lots of time to think and try and process information instead of reacting. In any sport, I’m sure you have heard a coach say, the player needs to just relax and play, and not over think the game. Coaches preach let his instincts take over,” and though all those statements are clichés, all are true. Therefore, when it came for the shootout, and goaltenders had the opportunity to get an extra point for their team - regardless of how your game went - you have a chance to be the hero with a win, or the goat with a loss. In today’s game, with pre-scouting, video, and guys tendencies out in the open, goaltenders have the added pressure of processing information as they hear a player’s name being called. Goaltenders start to think of their opposition’s moves, what theyre capable of, and they start to play in their head, ‘if I can just stop this one, they will get one for me at the other end.’ Yet with thinking of all the different scenarios that can happen, you can overthink and overanalyze, and before long you have beat yourself before the shot is taken. Now the guys who are really good at shootouts and have mastered how to go through the process of it, allow themselves to react at what’s being thrown at them, and this is what makes them special, for sure. But make no mistake, this was something that was a work in progress for every goalie since the shootout was implemented less than a decade ago, and it still continues to be as shooters add more creativity to their efforts. Regardless of what your opinion on the shootout is, whether you love it, or loathe it, you should know that the goalies have taken a while to adjust to it and the challenges that have come with it. Look no further than at Roberto Luongo, who is having a ton of success and has really began to enjoy the process at 35 years old. He worked hard at getting better at it on the fly, which is very tough to do, and it seems to be paying off for him and the Panthers for the time being. ' ' '