Bulls beat the King in front of President

CHICAGO— Nikola Mirotic scored 19 points and Derrick Rose added 18 to lead the Chicago Bulls to a seasonopening 97-95 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers with U.S. President Barack Obama watching on Tuesday night.

Pau Gasol blocked a potential tying layup by James in the closing seconds. Jimmy Butler then broke up an inbounds pass intended for James as time expired.

The president sat courtside for most of the game as his beloved Bulls knocked off the defending Eastern Conference champions and gave coach Fred Hoiberg a narrow win in his first game.

James scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Cleveland, but the Cavaliers came up short against the team they knocked out in the conference semifinals last season.

The Bulls, playing a more open offence with Hoiberg than they did under Tom Thibodeau, did not exactly light it up. But they came away with a promising win.

Rose, playing with a mask to protect his fractured left orbital, shot just 8-of-22 after missing almost the entire pre-season.

Mirotic nailed three 3-pointers and came up big down the stretch.

Butler added 17 points and two steals to go with that deflected pass for Chicago.

The Cavaliers got 19 points and seven assists from Mo Williams, filling in while Kyrie Irving recovers from a fractured left kneecap. Kevin Love added 18 points and eight rebounds.

The Cavaliers took an 83-82 lead on a floater by James with 5:32 left in the game.

Mirotic immediately converted a three-point play after getting fouled by Tristan Thompson on a baseline floater. That started an 11-2 run that put Chicago back on top 93-85 with 2:42 left.

Obama, in his hometown to speak to the International Association of Chief of Police and attend a Democratic fundraiser, had not sat courtside to watch the Bulls since they visited the Washington Wizards in February 2009.