Poor shooting and ballhandling doomed the Milwaukee Bucks late against the league-leading Cleveland Cavaliers, who extended their winning streak to 14 games and swept the season series. The Cavs had five players between 13–17 points, led by Max Strus, who didn’t score in the final 21 minutes of the game. Giannis had 30 and Damian Lillard had 22, but only one other Buck was in double figures.
Game Recap
With his second basket, Giannis surpassed Tom Chambers for 50th on the all-time scoring list, and it was 16 all after the first timeout, thanks to some sweet shotmaking early from both squads. Milwaukee couldn’t capitalize much on some early Cleveland turnovers as they cooled off, but Dame and Giannis (nine first-quarter points each) did enough work to keep it tight. The visitors were ahead 34-32 after 12 minutes.
Doc Rivers’ usual reserve lineup turned the ball over four times in the opening 2:11 of the second, allowing the Cavs to open up a seven-point edge. Giannis then subbed back in, but a 7-0 Cleveland run pushed it to 11. Dame reentered to get it back within single digits briefly until a red-hot Max Strus made it a 15-point lead with a personal 8-0 run. Despite again reducing it to nine, it was 62-52 Cavs at the half, with the Bucks being outscored 28-20 in the second. Giannis had 18 and Dame had 14 at the break, exceeding any Cav, but no other Buck had more than six.
Several Kyle Kuzma mistakes in the opening stages of the third didn’t allow Milwaukee to close nearer than seven, triggering an early Kevin Porter Jr. sighting. He was the juice the Bucks needed to close it to four in the latter minutes, but he exited for Lillard just after the two minute mark and Cleveland regrew their advantage to 10. Dame converted an and-one with 0.4 left to put his team within striking distance, down 84-77 through three.
A sloppy start to the fourth by both sides (eight combined turnovers in the first five minutes) meant the Bucks didn’t get closer than five, then found themselves behind 11 less than a minute later. Milwaukee didn’t score for over four minutes, and more turnovers made it a 14-point game at the fourth quarter’s midpoint. The Cavs’ run grew to 13-0 and fans began heading for the exit with 4:35 remaining and the home team down 18. While the Bucks soon broke their scoreless streak, they went quietly as Doc went to the deep bench a minute later.
Stat That Stood Out
In the first quarter, the Bucks only turned the ball over once. In the final three quarters? 17. Seventeen! Cleveland scored 17 points off them.
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