1 stud and 1 dud for Cavs from their big win over Bucks on Wednesday

On Wednesday Night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Cleveland Cavaliers faced a big regular season test.

The top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks were in town, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo. Cleveland’s defense held the Bucks to 20 points and 39 percent shooting in the opening quarter.

Cleveland’s defense did a great job at containing everyone on the Bucks…except for Giannis, who scored 12 first quarter points and got Evan Mobley in early foul trouble.

The second quarter saw Cleveland’s defense ratchet up the intensity even further, as they forced eight Milwaukee turnovers and scored nine points off those turnovers.

Overall in the first half, the Cavaliers defense forced Milwaukee to cough up the ball 16 times for 17 points. The Wine and Gold also held the Bucks to 42 points and 39 percent shooting in the first half.

Giannis did much of the damage in the first half, scoring 21 points and getting to the foul line 11 times.

Cleveland, on the other hand, did a fine job holding onto the ball, committing just four first half turnovers and shooting 47 percent from the floor en route to an 18-point lead at the half.

Despite holding a substantial lead, the Bucks have owned Cleveland in the third quarter in their prior two meetings this season.

While Milwaukee shot 57 percent and scored 35 points in the third, Cleveland did not fold and shot 63 percent themselves in the quarter and maintained a 15-point lead going into the final quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Milwaukee tightened up on the offensive end, committing just one turnover, and Giannis showed why is a perennial MVP candidate with 16 points in the final frame.

Cleveland shot just 33 percent in the fourth, but their defense got a couple of timely stops and they hit some clutch free throws to seal one of their biggest wins of the season.

As for the stud of the game, several players are worthy of that nomination so let’s see who it is.