Predicting how the Cleveland Cavaliers will do against the Central Division

How the Cavs stack up against the Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks won 60 games last season, and had the best record in the NBA. Considering that and with them having the reigning MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee will again be a really difficult team for the Cleveland Cavaliers to compete with, as they were in 2018-19.

If Love can be mostly healthy in matchups against the Bucks in 2019-20, the Cavs’ spacing should be able to generate more open looks than they were able to muster in most games last year against Milwaukee, but on the interior, Cleveland likely won’t get much.

As a result, I’d think that Antetokounmpo, along with Eric Bledsoe, a bruising point guard that will likely eat up Collin Sexton via drives again, along with Garland in some instances I’d think, will get a fair amount of easy buckets in transition after Cavs’ long shot misses and live-ball turnovers.

The Bucks have a ton of length in Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez, and as a result, Milwaukee was second in the NBA in blocks per game last season, and they conceded the lowest opponent field goal percentage in the restricted area last year as well, per NBA.com. Factor in offseason addition Robin Lopez (1.9 blocks per-36 for his career, per Basketball Reference), and I just don’t see the Cavs being able to get much going in the paint against the Bucks in 2019-20.

Though Milwaukee no longer will have Brogdon’s scoring and playmaking and no longer will have Nikola Mirotic‘s floor spacing element, as he agreed to play overseas this summer, the Bucks’ offense often led by Antetokoumpo’s gravity as a driver, will get countless open three-point looks against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Brook Lopez, who knocked in a career-high 36.5% of his deep balls on 6.3 attempts per game (per Basketball Reference), should again benefit from Antetokounmpo’s drive-and-kicks.

The 2019-20 Cavs’ record prediction against the Bucks: 1-3

Factor in the likes of steady veteran guard George Hill (yes, the former Cav courtesy of midseason trade last year), offseason wing addition Wesley Matthews, a career 38.2% three-point shooter (mostly of the catch-and-shoot variety) and Kyle Korver (who is fourth on the all-time three-pointers made list, per Basketball Reference) and the Bucks’ spacing next year will be among the league’s best. That’ll of course be on display against Cleveland.

Middleton will again probably feast on the Cavs’ defense in a variety of ways, too.

I’ll say the Bucks rest up against the Cavaliers in the April 11 meeting between the two (they did so in similar fashion last year toward the end of the year), and overall, the Bucks take three of four.