The Milwaukee Bucks lost 118-113 in an ultra-competitive contest against the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight. Giannis Antetokounmpo, who dropped 40 points in 33 minutes, led Milwaukee in a wild third-quarter
comeback, but Donovan Mitchell (24 points), Evan Mobley (23) and Sam Merrill (17) silenced their efforts with collected fourth-quarter play. Both teams are now 2-1 on the young season.
Game Recap
With Kevin Porter Jr. still injured, the Bucks gave Ryan Rollins another start alongside AJ Green, Gary Trent Jr., Giannis and Myles Turner. The Cavaliers opened with Donovan Mitchell, Sam Merrill, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and De’Andre Hunter, who made his season debut coming off an injury.
Both teams were engaged on defense from the jump. A full minute passed before the first points of the game were scored by way of a leaning corner shot from Gary Trent Jr. at the end of the shot clock. Tough jumpers over sticky perimeter defenders were flying everywhere. The score was 12-12 halfway through the opening quarter after AJ Green swished a Kevin Durant-esque pullup middie (who knew that was in his bag?). Undrafted rookie Mark Sears checked in for his NBA debut at the 5:00 minute mark, but the young guard looked uncharacteristically (but expectedly) frazzled. He turned it over on his first touch and passed up a wide-open floater a few possessions later, which triggered a timeout for Coach Doc. Sears was promptly benched. Ryan Rollins took his place and scored a quick five points. Taurean Prince dumped the ball off to Jericho Sims for a dunk (Sims’ first field goal of the season) with 10 seconds left, and the Bucks led 31-29 through one period.
Donovan Mitchell wasted no time reknotting the score in the second quarter, blowing by Rollins for a two-handed slam on the first play. Bobby Portis answered with a couple buckets, but he couldn’t prevent a highlight-induced run. Cleveland mounted a mini Cavalanche and built the first double-digit lead of the game for either team at the 4:54 stamp. De’Andre Hunter and Larry Nance Jr. were catalysts for the home team. The Cavs streak extended to 23-9 with a Jarrett Allen dunk at the 3:19 mark, and it felt like things were slipping away for Milwaukee. Giannis leaned forward in his metaphorical chair, giving the guys in green some hope with a combination of buckets, dimes and blocks, but Cleveland kept a 65-56 lead at the half. Sam Merrill and Giannis each scored 14 points for their respective squads in the first two quarters— one expected leader, one not.
The Bucks needed a timeout just over a minute into the second half after two questionable shot attempts from Trent and Myles Turner. Frustration was building for Milwaukee. Cleveland’s advantage rose to 16 points by the 7:40 tick in the third. However, Giannis was aggressively working to flip the script, giving the paint no time to breathe with a storm of drives. His unrelenting willpower eventually changed the tide. He spearheaded a 17-2 run in the latter part of the quarter that cut the lead back down to single digits. Milwaukee’s defense was working hard behind their leader, and the Cavs didn’t hit a field goal for nearly eight minutes. A beautiful AJ Green corner triple made it a three-point game with 1:30 remaining, and then Prince drove in for a layup to put the Bucks within just one. A game trending toward blowout territory turned into a playoff-coded battle by the end of the period, with Cleveland barely holding onto a 86-84 lead. Giannis had 15 points in the quarter alone.
Milwaukee got off to a rough start in the final frame, turning the ball over twice right away. The Cavs were regaining momentum, with Mitchell, Hunter, Evan Mobley and Craig Porter Jr. all chipping in some early buckets. But, the Bucks responded with a 10-0 run despite Giannis taking a short breather. Turner started to come alive, delivering some emphatic swats and hitting a couple timely triples. Giannis continued to dominate after he subbed back in. Milwaukee was fighting so hard, but Cleveland was able to hold them at five-points length. Their lead was 112-106 when Mitchell hit a dagger of a mid-range pull-up with 1:12 remaining. The Cavs had an answer for every Buck basket in the clutch, and they emerged victorious 118-113 in the end.
Stat That Stood Out
The Cavaliers won the rebound battle, 58-45. The extra possessions and transition looks they generated from crashing the glass allowed them to capture the win despite shooting 6% worse from the field and 9% worse from three than Milwaukee. Volume often beats efficiency in modern basketball.
