Riding a four-game losing streak, the Cleveland Cavaliers went into Milwaukee looking to get back on the right track against the Bucks.
Unlike Sunday’s game, the Cavaliers didn’t fall behind early. In fact, Cleveland led for nearly the entire first quarter and were in front by as much as eight points.
Donovan Mitchell, who returned after missing Cleveland’s last game with an ankle injury, set the tone early with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
However, Cleveland again struggled to defend the three-point line as Milwaukee shot 7-of-12 from deep in the opening 12 minutes.
Cleveland held Giannis Antetokounmpo to two points in the first quarter but was hurt by Brook Lopez and Jordan Nwora, as those two guys combined for 21 points.
In the second quarter, the Cavaliers defended the three-point line much better, as the Bucks shot just 2-of-11 from deep. Cleveland also took a 10-point lead early in the quarter but couldn’t sustain their momentum as they would only shoot 40 percent in the 2nd quarter and went into the half down by a point.
Cleveland realistically lost this game in the third quarter, as they allowed the Bucks to go on a 25-8 run to lead 91-71 late in the quarter. Lopez contained his three-point barrage, hitting three more in this quarter.
Overall in the third, Cleveland shot just 29 percent, as Mitchell and Darius Garland combined to shoot 2-of-9. On the other hand, Milwaukee was 60 percent from the floor in the quarter.
Cleveland made a bit of a run early in the fourth quarter and cut the Bucks lead to nine points. However, that would be the closest the Cavaliers would get, as they shot just 37 percent from the floor over the final 12 minutes.
The Cavaliers did hold the Bucks to just 6-of-20 shooting in the fourth but couldn’t take advantage of those misses. With roughly five minutes to go, J.B. Bickerstaff waived the white flag and pulled his starters.
While the end result was not was Cleveland was looking for, let’s get onto tonight’s star of the game, well two stars, if you will.