Mitchell's 37 helps Cavaliers hold off Bucks 118-106
BY TIM SHIRER
CAVS BET WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - On October 26th, the Cleveland Cavaliers (10-5, 6-2 home) entertained the Milwaukee Bucks (8-7, 3-4 road) in the seasons home opener at Rocket Arena, and the Cavs came out with a 118-113 win.
Tonight, the two teams met again in the same setting in Cleveland and the result was the same as the Cavs came out on top 118-106 sending the 19,432 in attendance home happy.
Things did not start out very well for the Cavs as the Bucks jumped out to an 11-2 lead with 9:57 left on the first quarter clock when Ryan Rollins drained a three from the corner. With 6:58 left the Cavs fell behind 23-10 when Giannis Antetokounmpo was fouled by De’Andre Hunter and completed the three point play. The Bucks lead ballooned to 30-16 before Donovan Mitchell hit a three with 3:04 left on the first quarter clock. Then after a turnover by Milwaukee Craig Porter, Jr. scored at the other end cutting the Bucks lead to 30-24 with 2:15 left. As the quarter ended the Bucks lead was 33-26. Mitchell led everyone in scoring with 14 points. Giannis led the Bucks with 11 points. The Bucks outrebounded the Cavs 11-6 in the first 12 minutes.
With 8:04 left on the clock the Cavs cut the Bucks lead to 37-36. After the play there was some extracurricular activity between the Cavs Thomas Bryant and Gary Trent, Jr. The incident was reviewed, and Bryant was accessed a technical foul which Trent shot and made giving the Bucks a two point lead. Then with 7:17 left in the opening half the Cavs had their first lead of the game 40-39 when Sam Merrill drained a three in front of the Bucks bench. The game remained close for the next several minutes. The Bucks took a 47-46 lead with 4:35 left. The Cavs then tied and then took the lead with 3:35 49-47 when Jarrett Allen was fouled by Rollins. Allen hit both free throws. Again, when the Bucks took a one point lead Allen got the Cavs lead back on a nice pass by Evan Mobley in the paint and the Cavs led 53-52 with 2:35 remaining in the first half. Then with 1:34 left Mitchell put the Cavs in front again 57-55 when he hit a jumper in the lane. When the buzzer sounded, sending the team to the locker room for the break, the Cavs led 59-57. Mitchell continued to lead everyone in scoring with 25 points. The Cavs superstar shot 77% (10 of 13) in the first half. Giannis led the Bucks with 14. The Cavs did outrebound the Bucks in the second quarter 12-8 but still trailed overall 19-18. The outshot the Bucks from the field 54% (21 of 39) to 45% (22 of 49). Milwaukee did outshoot Cleveland from three-point range 45% (9 of 20) to 40% (6 of 15). The Cavs went to the free throw line 15 times making 11, while Milwaukee hit the charity stripe seven times making just four.
Immediately when the third quarter began the Bucks took a 60-59 lead, but it did not last long when Mobley hit Merrill, and he drained a three to give the Cavs a 62-60 lead. After Milwaukee was scoreless at the other end Merrill hit another three putting the Cavs on top 65-60 with 10:56 left. Bucks coach Doc Rivers had seen enough and took a timeout. With 5:26 left Porter, Jr. stole the ball and slammed it home at the other end giving the Cavs a 77-72 lead. The Bucks then scored the next five points to tie the game 77-77 with 3:40 remaining in the quarter. After the Cavs went up 81-79 the Bucks responded and with 2:11 left on the third quarter clock took an 82-81 lead when Trent, Jr. hit a three in front of the Bucks Bench. With 1:29 left in the quarter Mitchell picked up his third personal foul sending Bobby Portis, Jr., to the line. Portis hit both giving the Bucks an 84-82 lead. Mitchell responded with a three at the other end and then Portis responded the game was definitely a back-and-forth affair as when time ran out the Cavs led 92-88 after scoring the final four points of the quarter in just under six seconds. Mitchell was leading everyone in scoring with 33 points through three quarters. Rollins was pacing Milwaukee with 15 points. The Cavs drained 5 of 8 three-point shots in the third quarter while the Bucks hit 6 of 10.
With 8:29 left in the final quarter the Cavs took a 100-91 lead on a three from Merrill prompting Rivers to take a Bucks timeout. With 4:28 left the Cavs led 108-101 and turned the ball over on a foul by Mobley, his fourth. Mitchell also had four as well as Lonzo Ball. The Cavs took the game over in the next minute and a half outscoring the Bucks 8-3 to take a 116-104 lead with 2:48 left. Rivers used another time out to gather his team. The Cavs allowed just five Bucks points in the final 4:28 and secured the 118-106 win.
Mitchell finished with 37 points to lead everyone in scoring. Merrill had 20 and Mobley finished with 14 points. Rollins led the Bucks with 24 points.
The Cavs shot 56% (44 of 79) from the field while the Bucks shot only 41% (39 of 93). The Bucks did outshoot the Cavs from long range 47% (17 of 36) to 43% (15 of 35). The Cavs outrebounded the Cavs by a nice margin 45-34 which included the Cavs winning the battle 26-16 in the second half.
The Cavs will be in action again on Wednesday night when they host the Houston Rockets (9-3, 4-2 road) at 7 pm. It will be the first meeting of season between the two contenders. Last season the Rockets won both meetings by a total of five points. The Rockets also lead the all-time series with the Cavs 91-51 and have a slight edge over the Cavs 36-35 playing in Cleveland (Cleveland Arena, Richfield Coliseum, Rocket Arena).
POSTED 11/17/2025 21:51
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Cavaliers superstar Donovan Mitchell hits a first half three pointer in his 37 point night in the Cavs 118-106 win over the Milwaukee Bucks at Rocket Arena on Monday night. Photo by Tommy Shirer
