Cavaliers run over Bucks 124-101

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - On Friday night the Cleveland Cavaliers played only their third game in the last 8 days. Friday night began a stretch of three games in four days as they welcomed the Milwaukee Bucks, winners of the NBA in season tournament to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Heading into tonight’s game the Cavs were 2-0 against Milwaukee this season. The Cavs won the first two meetings by a total of three points. This game was entirely different as the lead changed twice early in the first quarter and that was it as the Cavs led by as many as 36 points blowing out the Bucks 124-101 to improve to 24-4 on the season and retain the best record in the NBA.

The Cavs took an early 5-3 lead on a three by Dean Wade with 9:30 left in the first quarter. With 7:17 left and the Cavs up 8-3, Giannis Antetokounmpo drove the lane, hit the shot and was fouled by Evan Mobley. He hit the free throw to cut the Cleveland lead to 8-6. The Cavs then called a timeout. After the timeout Cavs swingman Max Strus entered the game for the first time this season due to injury to a nice ovation from the sold out crowd. After Strus entered the game, the Cavs went on a 9-2 run to take 17-8 lead with 4:29 left when Wade hit his second three of the game. The Bucks closed the Cavs lead to 24-20 with :35.1 left when Khris Middleton hit a jumper. The quarter ended with the Cavs leading with Donovan Mitchell hitting three foul shots after a review and being fouled by Middleton and the Cavs led 29-20. Mitchell led all scorers with eight first quarter points. Bobby Portis, Jr, Brook Lopez and Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with five points apiece. The Cavs won the first quarter battle of the boards 15-10. The Cavs shot 50% (11 of 22) from the field while Milwaukee shot 38% (8 of 21). Neither team was great from long range as the Cavs shot 33% (3 of9) and the Bucks shot 30% (3 of 10).

The Cavs extended the lead to 40-30 with 8:31 left when Wade drove the lane for a layup. The Cavs lead ballooned to 13 points at 43-30 with 7:42 left when Ty Jerome confidently drained a three from in front of the Cavs bench. Bucks coach Doc Rivers called an immediate timeout. Things only got worse for the Bucks over the next minute plus as the Cavs lead grew to 48-32 and River called another timeout. With 1:15 left in the quarter Giannis hit one of two free throws to pull the Bucks to within 16 at 64-48. Then at the other end just six seconds later Mitchell was fouled and hit one of two, to extend the Cleveland lead to 65-48. When the second quarter ended after a thunderous Mitchell dunk with :30.0 left the Cavs lead was 69-51. Giannis led all scorers in the first half with 18 points. Mitchell led the Cavs with 16. The Cavs had four scorers in double figures including Wade, Mobley, Darius Garland and Mitchell. The Cavs outrebounded the Bucks 26-24 in the first 24 minutes. The Cavs shot 57% (27 of 47) from the field, while the Bucks shot 48% (22 of 46). The Cavs got hot in the second quarter got hot from three-point range and hit 7 of 13 and shot 46% (10 of 22). It was a different story for the Bucks as they shot 29% (4 of 14) from long range.

Just 48 seconds into the third quarter the Cavs took a 21 point lead at 72-51 when Garland drained a three pointer. The Cavs ventured into blow out territory with 8:59 left in the third when Wade hit a three and was fouled giving the Cavs a 78-51 lead. After the Bucks scored the next five points to trim the Cavs lead to 22 points Garland on a long pass from Mitchell hit a three with 7:38 left to extend the Cavs lead back to 81-56. With 6:20 left and the Bucks had trimmed the Cavs lead to 21, Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson called a timeout and reinserted Strus and Caris LeVert, just 11 seconds later Strus hit a three to extend the Cavs lead to 24 points at 84-60. The Bucks scored the next five points cutting the Cavs lead to 84-65 with 5:10 left. Atkinson took another timeout. The Cavs lead was back at 20 with 2:52 left when Georges Niang hit a three giving Cleveland a 92-72 lead. After the Bucks cut the Cavs lead to 92-74, Mitchell hit a jumper in the paint and was fouled. The Cavs MVP candidate hit the free throw to give the Cavs a 95-74 lead with 1:17 left in the third quarter. Then Strus hit pay dirt from long range with :55.1 left extending the Cavs lead to 98-76. With time running out in the quarter and the Cavs up 100-76 Mitchell hit a very long range three to give the Cavs a 103-76 lead at the end of the third quarter. Giannis led everyone in scoring with 33 points through three quarters. Mitchell led the Cavs with 24. The Cavs had five players in double figures through the end of the third period. The Cavs continued to win the battle of the boards 30-27. The Cavs were shooting 55% (39 of 71) from the field while Milwaukee shot 46% (30 of 66). The Cavs continued to shoot well from three, shooting 49% (18 of 37) while Jimmy Haslam’s Bucks shot a miserable 32% (7 of 22).

With 9:30 left in the fourth the Cavs put any doubt to rest taking a 36 point lead at 115-79. With 9:13 left Atkinson cleared the bench inserting Tristan Thompson, Ty Jerome and Jaylon Tyson. A couple minutes later Craig Porter, Jr. entered the game. The Bucks went on a 10-2 run to cut the Cavs lead to 117-89 with 7:09 left. The reached the 120 point mark with 3:30 left when Jerome hit a three giving the Cavs a 120-92 lead. It was the 14 time they have scored 120 points this season and have a 13-1 record when doing so. The far end of the Cavs bench got a lot of time in the fourth quarter and as the Cavs ran out the clock, they secured the 124-101 blow out win.

Giannis led all scorers with 33 points in a losing effort for the Bucks. Mitchell led the Cavs with 27 points. The Cavs had six players in double figures with Garland scoring 16, Wade and Mobley each had 15, Jerome had 13 and Jarett Allen had 10 points and 10 rebounds. On the rebound front the Cavs won that battle 47-45.

The Cavs as a team shot well from the field all night finishing at 51% (46 of 90) while Milwaukee shot 47% (40 of 85). The big difference was from behind the three-point line as the Cavs made 10 more three’s than the Bucks shooting 20 of 46 for 44% while the Bucks shot a putrid 10 of 27 for 37%. Cleveland also outshot Milwaukee from the free throw line as the Cavs made 12 of 14 for 86% while the Bucks shot more often but made less with 11 of 18 for 61%.

The Cavs will be back in action quickly as they welcome the Philadelphia 76ers to RMFH on Saturday at 8 p.m. The Cavs won the first meeting against the Sixers on November 13th in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center 114-106. The Sixers lead the all-time series 118-110, but the Cavs do have the edge at home (Cleveland Arena, Richfield Coliseum, RMFH) 63-50.