The Cleveland Cavaliers have notched wins against most of the East’s best teams, including two wins over the Boston Celtics and one over the Philadelphia 76ers. Coming into last night they were 0-2 against the Milwaukee Bucks, both losses in Milwaukee and by 15 points each.
Last night the Cavs hosted the Bucks and flipped the script, going up big and holding on down the stretch to win 114-106. Donovan Mitchell led the way for Cleveland with 36 points, while the Cavs absorbed 45 from Giannis Antetokounmpo by holding the rest of the Bucks to 38.6 percent from the field.
Jarrett Allen was certainly key defensively for Cleveland, but Mitchell also stood out for his defensive effort. On one play in particular he defended multiple players and ultimately forced a jumpball:
The victory further tightens the East standings at the top. Milwaukee, Boston and Cleveland all have 22 wins, and the Cavs have the best net rating of the group (in the league, actually) at +6.5. Their winning streak stands at five games heading into a game against the other team to stand 2-0 against Cleveland this season, the Toronto Raptors.
More Cavs news
During the game with the Bucks the broadcast team had the idea to mic up Robin Lopez, whose twin brother Brook Lopez starts for the Milwaukee Bucks. That meant we all got to hear as Robin lobbied the refs against his brother, giving some background detail on Brook’s history of acting:
Today on the site we played “Grade the Trade” with a potential deal with the Utah Jazz for a movement shooter, a player archetype the Cavs don’t really have and which could help elevate the offense even further.
NBA news
The Brooklyn Nets kept pace behind the Cavs with a 143-113 beatdown of the short-handed Golden State Warriors. Their 91 first-half points were the third-highest total in NBA history. Philadelphia won as well, meaning the 3-5 seeds in the East are all on winning streaks of at least five games (the Knicks lost to break their 8-game streak).
Ayo Dosunmo had a buzzer-beater to shock the Atlanta Hawks, recompense for A.J. Griffin’s buzzer-beater last week. LeBron James and the Lakers lost to the Sacramento Kings but James’ 31 points have him just 701 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most all-time.
Coming up: The Cavs will continue their homestand on Friday against the Toronto Raptors.