Cavaliers match franchise record 8-0 start with 116-114 win over Bucks.

Cavaliers match franchise record 8-0 start with 116-114 win over Bucks

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - Monday night the Cleveland Cavaliers welcomed the Milwaukee Bucks into Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for the second of a back-to-back. The Cavs won the first game of the two game set on Saturday night coming back from a 16 point deficit defeat the Bucks on their home floor 114-113 on a jumper by reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week Donovan Mitchell with just :00.3 left on the game clock.

Entering the contest the Bucks did hold a 132-102 all-time series lead over the Cavs. But the Cavs led the all-time series at home (Cleveland Arena, Richfield Coliseum, RMFH) 63-54. The last two seasons the team have met eight times prior to Saturday night and split the series down the middle 4-4. The Cavs have won two straight against the Bucks dating back to last season. When the final buzzer sounded on Monday night the result was the same as Saturday night this time by a score of 116-114 and matched the best start in franchise history with the 1976-77 Miracle of Richfield era Cavs.

The Bucks were without Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Cavs were without Dean Wade. It was the first time this season that the Cavs did not start the same five guys. The Cavs got off to an early 8-4 lead with 9:57 left in the quarter when Mitchell picked up where he left off on Saturday when he drained a three and had five early points. The Cavs extended their lead to 16-8 after a turnover by the Bucks on a steal by Mitchell who found Evan Mobley in the paint. Mobley laid the ball in the basket and was fouled. Bucks coach Doc Rivers was not happy and took an immediate timeout with 7:59 left in the opening quarter. The Cavs built the lead to double digits at 20-10 with 5:57 left after Mobley hit two free throws after being fouled by Bobby Portis, Jr. After the Cavs built the lead to 12 points the Bucks responded going on a 12-4 capped off by an AJ Green three with 2:09 left in the first quarter cutting the Cleveland lead to 28-24. The Bucks run continued after the Cavs took a timeout and with :30.6 left in the quarter the Bucks took a 31-30 lead when Andre Jacksin, Jr. hit a three from the corner. However, in the remaining second of the quarter Mitchell hit a three, to finish the quarter with 13 and then after a Bucks turnover on a steal by Ty Jerome who hit the layup at the other end to give the Cavs a 35-31 lead after one quarter. Mitchell led all scorers, Darius Garland had 12. Damian Lillard led the Bucks with eight first quarter points.

Midway through the second quarter the Cavs lead was six at 48-42. Evan Mobley now had 14 points, and three Cavs were in double figures. Then after a steal on a knock away by Isaac Okoro to Sam Merrill, Merrill hit Garland under the basket giving the Cavs a 61-48 lead with 3:53 left in the opening half. Less than a minute later the Cavs lead ballooned to 66-48 after a Merrill three with 3:01 left on the clock. With 1:23 left on the clock Okoro was accessed a personal foul. The Cavs took a timeout and challenged the call. The challenge was unsuccessful. As the quarter ended the Cavs took a 73-60 lead into the locker room. Cleveland went to the break with five players in double figures. Garland led the way with 22 leading all scorers in the first half. Lillard led the Bucks with 17. The Cavs were on fire from long distance as they shot 10 of 15, 4 of 6 from Garland. The Cavs also capitalized on turnovers by the Bucks turning nine Milwaukee turnovers into 14 points.

The Bucks came out of the locker room firing as they made their first three shots to cut the Cavs lead to 73-66 with just 1:07 off the clock. The Cavs responded by scoring the next five points to increase their lead to 78-66 with 9:45 left on a step back three by Okoro. With 7:07 left in the quarter possibly the worst call of the young NBA season was made by official Nick Burchert when he said Okoro fouled Lillard on a shot. It was clear on replay that Okoro did not come close to touching Lillard. Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson let Buchert know what he thought of his lousy eyesight. With 4:27 left in the third the Bucks cut the Cavs lead to three points at 86-83 on a layup by Portis. Two possessions later the tied the game on a three by Brooks Lopez with 3:43 left. The Cavs in this third quarter were reminiscent of the Cavs of the JB Bickerstaff era as they seemed to come out flat getting out played in every phase of the game by the Bucks. At the end of the quarter the Bucks held a 91-89 advantage as the Cavs were outscored 31-16 in the quarter. Lillard now led all scorers with 31. He had 14 third quarter points. Garland paced the Cavs with 27 managing only five points in the third.

After the Bucks extended the lead to 93-89 Georges Niang cut the deficit to three when he hit a three from the corner with 9:51 left in the final quarter. The Bucks had all of the energy in the second half as their lead ballooned to 101-94 on a three pointer by Green with 8:09 left. A disgusted Kenny Atkinson called a timeout. After the Bucks went up by eight points the Cavs cut it to 106-101 when Garland hit a three with 5:43 left. Rivers immediately took a timeout attempting to stifle the Cavs momentum. With 3:41 left the Cavs cut it to 106-104 when Mobley hit a layup and was fouled by Lopez. :31 later the Cavs tied the game 106-106 when Mitchell stole the ball, and Garland took it to the basket with 3:20 left. The Cavs then took the lead with 2:19 left when the Bucks threw the ball away and Garland took the inbound pass at the other end and scored giving the Cavs a 108-106 lead. The Bucks courtesy of Lillard scored the next five points to give the Bucks a 111-1o8 lead with 1:18left in the game. The Cavs regained the lead on a Garland three with :45 left on the clock. With :12.2 left in the game the Cavs sealed win when Jarrett Allen hit a hook shot to give the Cavs a 115-111 lead. When the buzzer sounded the Cavs were victorious once again and this time it was 116-114.

Garland led all scorers in the game with a season high 39 points. The Cavs had five players in double digits scoring including Allen who notched another double double scoring 14 points and pulling down 15 rebounds including five in the final quarter and nine in the second half. Lillard led the Bucks with 36 in a losing effort.

The Cavs shot 51% (46 of 91) from the field and 46% (17 of 37) from behind the three-point arc. Meanwhile the Bucks shot 49% (42 of 86) from the field and 49% (17 of 35) from behind the three-point stripe. The Bucks turned the ball over 15 times resulting in 24 Cavaliers points. The Cavs also won the battle in the paint outscoring Milwaukee 52-38 inside.

The Cavs will be in action next on Wednesday night when they travel to the Big Easy to take on the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center at 8 pm. The Pelicans lead the all-time series 26-21 and have the edge 17-6 in New Orleans.