For most of this season, the Chicago Bulls have been steady in the clutch.

It was a point of pride for a team attempting to upend its reputation in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls won all four of their games this season that closed with a deficit of five points or fewer in the final five minutes of regulation. Those wins required guts and a few last-gasp game-winners — and helped to fuel the Bulls’ surprising rise to the top of the conference standings.

But that streak of late-game success ended Saturday night in Cleveland with a 128-122 loss to the Cavaliers for the Bulls’ clutch defeat of the season.

The severity of the collapse was only sharpened by the contrast of the Bulls’ offensive momentum in the first half. Despite allowing the Cavaliers to open with a 7-0 run, the Bulls wran

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