Luol Deng misses his close friends in Chicago.

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CLEVELAND -- Luol Deng misses his close friends in Chicago. Cyrus Kouandjio Jersey . The Bulls seem to be getting along fine without him. D.J. Augustin scored 27 points in a start for Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson matched a career high with 26 filling in for Carlos Boozer as the Bulls improved to 7-2 since trading the popular Deng with a 98-87 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. Augustin and Mike Dunleavy hit 3-pointers down the stretch to pace the Bulls, who have won three straight, nine of 11 and moved over .500 for the first time since Nov. 22. Chicago reached the seasons mid-point at 21-20, not where many expected the Bulls to be sitting after dealing Deng. The two-time All-Star was a non-factor in his first game against his former team, which traded him for draft picks on Jan. 6. Deng went just 2 of 11 from the field and scored 11 points in 40 minutes. "It was strange," Deng said. "Its the Cavs versus the Bulls and not so much about me. In terms of me, I could have played better." Joakim Noah had 18 rebounds for the Bulls, who appeared to be looking toward the future when they traded Deng, not long after losing superstar Derrick Rose to a season-ending injury. But the Bulls arent fading away as coach Tom Thibodeau has them playing with their usual defensive tenacity. Dengs not around, but the Bulls remain as tough as always. "Its one of the things I respect about our team," Thibodeau said. "They respond to every challenge. They have a lot of heart. Theyre playing together. Each day they have the right approach. If someones out, the next five get in there and get the job done. Were short-handed. We understand how hard we have to play to give ourselves a chance to win." Kyrie Irving scored 26 to lead Cleveland, which has dropped the first two games of a five-game homestand. The Cavs have lost all of their momentum after going 3-2 on the road. "Were not making any excuses here," Irving said. "Weve got to pick it up." Although they were missing two starters in Boozer (calf) and Hinrich (hamstring), the Bulls had more than enough to hold off the Cavaliers. Making just his fourth start, Gibson scored 12 in the third as the Bulls opened a 71-62 lead entering the fourth. Dunleavys 3-pointer extended Chicagos lead to 12 in the opening minute of the final quarter, but the Cavs fought back behind Dion Waiters and pulled to 84-81 on his 3. However, Dunleavy scored again, Noah made a layup and Augustin buried a 3-pointer to give the Bulls a 91-81 lead. The Cavs were still within 93-87 when Dunleavy knocked down another 3-pointer with 38 seconds left to seal Chicagos win. Dunleavy added 22 points for the Bulls, who got just four points from their bench. Waiters had 15 for Cleveland. Deng spent 10 seasons with the Bulls, and the 28-year-old knew it would be challenging to oppose his ex-teammates. "Its definitely going to be weird because its guys Im really close with and it feels like just yesterday I was going to battle with them and now Im going against them," he said at the morning shootaround. Following the game, Deng acknowledged it was difficult to face players he knows so well. "I tried to really play the game within myself," he said. "They played good D. I missed shots. Im not happy with my performance. Thats a good defensive team. Weve just got to keep growing." Before the opening tip, Deng ran over to Chicagos bench and hugged Thibodeau and shook hands with all of the teams assistant coaches. "It says a lot about who he is," Thibodeau said. "That didnt surprise me." Gibson said there were some awkward moments going against Deng. "It felt weird," Gibson said. "There was tension before the game because we werent talking. Its like Tibs said, We love him but were going to go knock him on his butt if he tries to score. After the game, were going to be friends." Outworked by a depleted Chicago team, the Cavs fell behind by 10 early in the second quarter and were down 35-29 when Irving heated up. He made five consecutive 3-pointers in the final 5:45 of the second quarter to give the Cavs a 44-43 lead at halftime. NOTES: Deng spent nearly 20 minutes after the shootaround discussing his days in Chicago, which ended shortly after he rejected a three-year, $30 million contract extension, an offer and pay cut that he and his agents didnt find adequate. Asked if he would consider returning to the Bulls as a free agent this summer, Deng took a swipe at Chicagos front office. "Maybe theyll offer me three years, $30 million," he cracked. "That might be an option to take." ... Noah has recorded at least 10 rebounds in 14 straight games, the longest stretch in franchise history since Dennis Rodman posted 43 straight in 97. Andre Reed Jersey . The 24-year-old piloted the No.06 Sprott Inc. Newman/Haas Racing entry to nine top-ten finishes, including three season-best fourth-place finishes, all on wildly different tracks - at Long Beach (street course), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (short oval) and Kentucky Speedway (1. Jim Kelly Bills Jersey . - Hall of Fame centre Bill Russell was arrested this week at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after Transportation Security Administration officials found a loaded gun in his luggage.(Sports Network) - The Vancouver Canucks close out a six-game road trip this evening when they take on the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center. After netting five power-play goals in six chances on Sunday versus Chicago, Vancouver scored twice on the man advantage in last nights 3-2 victory at Los Angeles. Sami Salo and Andrew Ebbett scored power-play goals just 42 seconds apart during a three-goal first period. Already up a man after Kings forward Trevor Lewis was handed a five-minute elbowing major, Los Angeles Drew Doughty was sent to the box for cross-checking Ryan Kesler. Salo capitalized during the 5-on-3 before Ebbett struck. "The way the game unfolded with us getting an early five-minute power play and then following it up with an undisciplined penalty on Ryan Kesler, we were able to make them pay," said Vancouver head coach Alain Vigneault. Defenseman Aaron Rome capped the first-period scoring with his second goal in as many games this year after missing the start of the season with a broken finger. Romes two goals this year have doubled his career total. "Its been good. Its been clicking," Rome said of the power play. "Weve talked about making the other team pay when they take penalties, so its been good for us." Roberto Luongo made 28 saves to earn the win and Daniel Sedin added two assists as the Canucks moved to 3-2-0 on their road trip. Sedin is second in the NHL with 20 points. Luongo, who is likely to get a rest tonight in favor of Cory Schneider given the back-to-back games on consecutive nights, said after Thursdays win that the Canucks cant take the Ducks lightly despite their struggles. "Its a big game for us," Luongo said. "t;It would be a nice way to cap off the road trip, but we know its not going to be an easy game going in there. Jim Kelly Womens Jersey. . We cant take things for granted. Weve got to come out strong and have a good start like we did tonight." After a solid start to the season, the Ducks are in danger of posting their longest losing streak in six years. Having to go up against the Canucks suddenly-blazing power play is probably the last thing the slumping club wants to do. The Ducks opened up the season with four victories in five games, but have posted just a 1-6-3 record since to fall into last place in the Pacific Division. They are 0-4-2 on their current six-game slide and another setback tonight would give the franchise its longest skid since an eight-game losing streak from Nov. 3-20, 2005. Anaheim fell behind early to Nashville last time out on Wednesday, yielding a pair of goals 4:54 into the game, and never recovered en route to a 4-2 defeat. The loss came in the opening of a span that sees the Ducks play 11 of 13 at home and travel no further than Phoenix on Nov. 23. "We dug ourselves a hole," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "They got two shots on net and it was 2-0. Thats a mountain you have to climb. We were able to for parts of the game get back into it with our work ethic and our grit and determination, but it just seemed we couldnt put one across the goal line at an opportune time." Cam Fowler and Francois Beauchemin each lit the lamp for the Ducks, who got 28 saves from Jonas Hiller and fell to 3-3-0 as the host this season. "Were in a funk right now. Its up to us to battle and try to get out of it," Fowler said. The Canucks and Ducks have split their last 12 meetings. cheap jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '