CLEVELAND -- The Chicago Bulls have never had much success beating LeBron James in the postseason. Then again, they've never faced him with a forward like Pau Gasol.

Guard Derrick Rose scored 25 points, Gasol added 21 points and 10 rebounds and the Bulls immediately wrestled away home-court advantage with a 99-92 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Monday night.

The Bulls led by as many as 16 points and never trailed in large part to Gasol, who consistently teamed with Rose to cut up the Cavs' defense on pick-and-rolls in the third quarter.

The Cavs tied the game twice in the third quarter, but the Bulls countered by scoring the next 15 points. Gasol had nine of them, primarily on jump shots after the Cavs kept blowing the coverage, and he scored 13 points in quarter.

"A free-throw line jump shot is like a layup to him," Rose said.

Added Gasol: "We kept running it because it was working for us."

The Cavs were within 94-90 in the final minute when Chicago guard Jimmy Butler banked in a jump shot over an outstretched center Tristan Thompson, essentially sealing the victory. Butler finished with 20 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Cavs guard Kyrie Irving scored a game-high 30 points. James had 19 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, but he also turned the ball over six times and the Cavs suffered their first playoff loss this year -- they had swept the Boston Celtics in the first round.

"I wasn't that good tonight," James said. "I have to be better."

The Cavs will be without forward Kevin Love (shoulder) for the rest of the postseason and guard J.R. Smith (suspension) for the first two games of this series. Coach David Blatt kept his starters a secret until minutes before tipoff, ultimately deciding on Iman Shumpert to replace Smith and Mike Miller to replace Love.

Shumpert scored 22 points, but Miller struggled to keep up with Bulls forward Mike Dunleavy, who scored 13 of his 14 points in the first quarter. Dunleavy made all five of his shots (including three 3-pointers) in the quarter and took just one shot the rest of the night.

Blatt was concerned about the Cavs' eight-day layoff -- and rightfully so. The Cavs trailed by double figures less than six minutes into the game and fell behind by 16 early in the second quarter.

They spent the rest of the quarter digging out of it behind James' effort and a flurry of slicing, twisting drives to the basket from Irving.

"That first quarter," Irving said, "going forward, just can't happen again."

The Bulls shot 50 percent, including 56 percent from 3-point range, in handing the Cavs just their second loss in their last 24 home games.

"We did a great job of coming out and setting the tone on both ends of the floor," Gasol said. "We came in with the right mindset and attitude."

Now the Cavs are fighting just to even the series while the Bulls can take a commanding lead back to Chicago with one more victory. Rose and the Bulls have faced James three times already in the postseason and lost all three series. They even won the first game in each of the last two meetings, only to watch James' Miami Heat teams roar back to win the next four.

Game 2 this time is Wednesday night in Cleveland, and Blatt said he is considering making more lineup changes.

"Every game and every day teaches you something," Blatt said. "Once you walk into the fire, you'll come out either hurt badly or a lot smarter. Hopefully we're a lot smarter."

NOTES: Chicago G Derrick Rose suffered a right shoulder stinger but said, "I should be all right." ... Cleveland F LeBron James broke his self-imposed blackout long enough to call good friend G Chris Paul and congratulate him for a terrific Game 7 performance in the Clippers' victory against the Spurs. James famously shuts off his phone during the playoffs, but he used his wife's phone to call Paul. "I told him, 'Don't say (anything); you're not allowed to reply,'" James said. "I told him how amazing he was and how great he was and I hung up on him. I haven't spoken to him since." ... James finished third in MVP voting and said Stephen Curry's award was well-deserved. "He's the catalyst of that whole ship, and I think he's had an unbelievable season," James said. "I think it's great that another kid born in Akron, Ohio, can win an MVP." ... James joked he has been playing against Tom Thibodeau's defenses for so long he knows the play calls. "He's faced every possible defense," Thibodeau said. "You have to keep throwing different things at him. You've got to make him work." ... The Bulls are 62-61 in conference semifinal games and 11-12 in semifinal series.