Recap: Cavs 113, Bucks 102 (or, You Better Watch Out…)

…Cause Santa Claus is comin’ to town a little early… (since he heard the Cavs are pretty good — and tickets to the Christmas Day game against the Dubs are hard to come by). Actually, he just wanted to show Mrs. Claus that there were a couple of guys in wine & gold who were almost as adept at handing out gifts, stuffing stockings and reining in deer as the jolly old elf himself. That’s right, Virginia… there is a Santa Claus, but the real man with the bag that everyone was waiting for showed up tonight wearing a #2 jersey. And, instead of witnessing three kings bearing gifts… there was one King burying gifts of threes. Not to mention a big man from the North going up and down chimneys after cleaning the glass. So, even though Kevin was left Home Alone… and J.R. had been Scrooged worse than Tiny Tim with his broken thumb… the Cavs still had a festive night at the Q, downing the Bucks for a second straight evening.

Yes, the spirit of the holiday season was in the air from even before the opening tip… as Rudy himself got the early Christmas present of his well-deserved Championship ring… and then got promptly trampled by his former teammates in their enthusiastic reindeer games at center court. Even David Griffin wasn’t spared in the joyous melee.

Congrats, mate! 🏆💍

Watch as @MatthewDelly receives his #WonForAll bling and gets mobbed by his former teammates: https://t.co/oc6N6qnzbR

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 22, 2016

Once the celebration died down though, it was time for the Cavs to get to work on the pesky deer from Milwaukee. It would have been easy to excuse the Cavaliers if they had decided to mail this game in like an obligatory Hallmark card from a distant relative… especially after expending extra energy dispatching the same Bucks team in overtime just the night before. They didn’t even have a full complement of helpers with J.R. Smith joining the ranks of the injured, leaving them with only as many active players as there are days of Christmas. Yet they refused to settle in for a long winter’s nap, and played like lords a leaping for golden rings (or something like that mixed yuletide metaphor).

The game itself played out for a while like a sequel to Tuesday night… but just in a different city. It started out with a much too easy Jabari Parker dunk, but just like the first time around, the Cavs tightened up their defense and moved the ball around to get out to as much as a 12 point lead in the first quarter. Kyrie was again aggressive, both in getting to the rack with amazing moves (see Vine below), and also as a heady facilitator to get others easy buckets. He had four assists in the first period alone (similar to the five he had in the previous game’s first frame), but was also an extremely efficient 5-7 for 11 points. Tristan Thompson was also dynamite, bringing abundant energy in snagging eight first quarter rebounds (three offensive) to go with three blocks and four of his five points for the game on a couple of dunks. On the Milwaukee side, it was again the Jabari Parker show… as he scored the first seven for the Bucks and wound up matching Kyrie with 11 in the quarter. Cavs up 31-22.

https://vine.co/v/50KvEa70vAI

Quarter two was all about LeBron, as he dished a couple of early dimes and led the second team in keeping the defensive intensity going while maintaining about a 10 point cushion. With J.R. gone, Mike Dunleavy and Jordan McRae saw some run, and surprisingly held their own for a few minutes. Then Kyrie checked back in looking to deliver some presents to the King. Faster than you could say frankincense, myrrh and gold, LBJ drained three deep packages from downtown to push the lead out to 16. Yet, before he could put a bow on this potential blowout party… Coach Ty Lue told Bron and his flaming hand to go cool off on the pine. It wasn’t unexpected (since Ty had forewarned LeBron he was going to take him out), but it didn’t exactly thrill the King. It also didn’t ultimately present tidings of joy for Coach Lue and the Cavs either, as they were outscored by the Bucks 19-8 in the last five minutes of the half after LeBron departed. As in the previous game, Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo led the charge with a combined 21 points in the quarter. Cavs led 59-54.

TT again helped set the tone for the start of the third quarter with some stout interior defense and more cleaning of glass. He pulled down another five boards (four offensive), on his way to a game high 15 (nine offensive), and blocked another Parker shot. LeBron and Kyrie also continued to attack the rack to keep the lead close to double digits. Kyrie even his his sole three of the game to widen the margin to 12 halfway through the quarter. With Delly mostly ineffective in his return to Cleveland, Jason Kidd went to Malcolm Brogdon to switch things up, and it seemed to spark Milwaukee to make a run. As they had the night before, the Bucks stormed back to pull within three, this time on a couple of Brogdon buckets and a couple of Parker threes (one each assisted by Brogdon and Giannis). But, on this night, Kyrie wasn’t going to let it go down like that. He drove for a bucket and then dropped two more sublime dimes for a three each by RJ and LBJ. The latter prompted John Krolik to mention this interesting stat…

Kyrie had assisted LeBron 29 times in 26 games before tonight. He's done it 5 times through 3 quarters tonight.

— a! (@JohnKrolik) December 22, 2016

The ball movement was contagious, as the Cavs used it to make the difference on a night when both teams were tired. The passing even led to a Jordan McRae Christmas miracle three (albeit on a very kind bounce). Despite another Brogdon assisted triple to Giannis, Kyrie had the coup de grace and-1 to beat the buzzer.

Kyrie vs. the buzzer. You already know who wins.#DefendTheLand https://t.co/AuVyquTP6V

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 22, 2016

Uncle Drew had 14 points in the period and was knocking on the door of his career best assist mark for the second time in three games. Cavs up 91-77.

In the final quarter, the Cavs held the Bucks to just four points in the first four minutes, as LeBron went secret Santa on them… dishing out some well-received three point gifts to Channing Frye and (yes, you’re reading this correctly) Mike Dunleavy. You could almost see Mike yank the fork out of his own back as he ran back down the floor after giving the Cavs a 19 point lead. And, when Shump stole the next possession, leading to an Orange Mamba run out, the game seemed effectively over. J Kidd sure seemed to indicate as much by subbing in the 7’9 Thon Maker, the beefiest of the Plumlee brothers, and Ricky Rashad Vaughn. But, just as it looked like Kyrie’s personal assist record might be safe for another night, that same Bucks bench mob ripped off the next eight straight points to close the gap to 13. Down the chimney came Kyrie with his bag full of tricks. A quick pass to Channing Frye for a three tied the record… and a few possessions later, he dished this dunk to LBJ for a baker’s dozen.

Kyrie sets a new career-high with 13 assists for the @cavs on @NBATV! #NBARapidReplay pic.twitter.com/90jJEKxkrb

— NBA (@NBA) December 22, 2016

After one last deep Shumpert three off of a LeBron dime, the night truly appeared over… only, it wasn’t. See, Richard Jefferson does not take kindly to oversized big men tossing him to the ground. So, when Thon Maker made the same mistake that Joel Embiid did earlier this season, RJ quickly lost his holiday spirit… and his mind. Two technical fouls later, RJ was storming off the court… pulling off his jersey and handing it to a fan Dennis Rodman style. A few garbage time minutes later, the Cavs had stuffed their stockings with a two-day sweep of the Bucks, and a 113-102 victory.

The Naughty List

Given the circumstances, this is a fairly short list at this time of year…

Ty Lue doesn’t make it since he was able to get some rest for his two star workhorses… although the in-game rest for LeBron came at a time when he had a roaring blaze of a shot going.

The defense doesn’t make it, since even though the Cavs allowed the Bucks to shoot almost 50% from the field, they still held them to just 77 shots (mostly due to winning the rebounding advantage and making the Bucks work hard for those shots), and probably would have held them under 100 if not for garbage time.

Mike Dunleavy gets a reprieve since he finally showed some signs of removing the giant fork from his back (potentially ruining my Christmas gift for him), by hitting 2-4 shots (including a three) with a couple of boards and assists.

Jordan McRae… not so lucky. The numbers (3-6 for eight points) are a little deceiving due to fortunate bounces on both his three pointer and one of his layups. Without those, it’s a rough night combined with his two turnovers, shoddy defense and Shaqtin’ a fool shot over the backboard. Maybe I’m being a little harsh, but it was still an underwhelming 18 minutes for the Mamba.

The Alphabet might get a lot of attention for being a rising star in the League, but he takes more extra steps than an entire team of reindeer on a snowy rooftop. As Nate pointed out in the comments, it seems like Giannis travels literally every time he has the ball. Star treatment or not, this is something that Antetokounmpo needs to clean up if he wants to realize his awesome potential.

Much like his big Russian former Cav pal, Delly did not have a memorable first trip back (outside of receiving his Championship ring). The lovable Aussie guard was just 1-4 (0-3 from downtown) for a mere two points with three assists in just 25 minutes. He also let Kyrie do what you saw in that Vine to him. In fact, looking back on this night, it might mark the moment that Delly lost his starting job to promising rookie, Malcolm Brogdon… which actually might be just fine for the Wombat, as he’s flourished more off the bench in his career thus far.

Richard Jefferson gets ejected after scuffle with Thon Maker pic.twitter.com/LUIG08ctBC

— Sideline Sources (@sidelinesources) December 22, 2016

RJ… I don’t know who started it, but you and Thon Maker both have to go on the naughty list for the fracas toward the end of the game. Personally, I love the scrappiness and fight you bring to this team… and your Rodman-esque stunt was priceless… but, I don’t make the rules. Maybe Kyrie can talk to the man in red on your behalf… after he’s done paying your fine.

The Nice List

In honor of Uncle Drew’s superior performance, here’s a remix of the first few lines of that song…

You better watch out, cause he’ll drive right by…

You better not reach, I’m tellin’ you why…

Uncle Drew gets buckets all day.

I know Kyrie has had plenty of big games in the regular season before. The Double Nickel game against Portland without LeBron, or the 57 he dropped on the Spurs at the Alamo come to mind. Yet, the combination of efficiency, aggression and awareness he put on display in this game was transcendent.

Kyrie finds LeBron for the triple and SLAM! #PhantomCam (🎼 @Ookay) pic.twitter.com/xTKXRZtjjZ

— NBA (@NBA) December 22, 2016

Yes, he bested his career assist mark, but it wasn’t with cheap dimes. So many times, he drove into traffic… and kicked it out to the perfectly positioned open man almost every time. It was like watching Neo at the end of The Matrix starting to believe and figure out the full capacity of his abilities. Or, more on theme, like a kid on Christmas morning opening the awesome present he hoped for but didn’t expect. This aspect of his game also made his wizardry in attacking the basket that much more dangerous as the game wore on… and is the next level kind of gift that sends a message to the League that they better watch out indeed. Honestly, I’ll take 31 points on 11-17 (65%!) shooting with 13 assists and six boards over a 50 spot any day of the year. The only minor flaw to be found was the four turnovers… but that’s small stuff.

It’s A Wonderful Life for LeBron James these days… mostly because he’s got his shot working again. With Kevin and J.R. (two of the “rocket launchers” as LBJ calls them) out of commission, the threes had to come from somewhere. Well, that somewhere was off the hands of the King in this game. He led the team in both makes and attempts (4-7), and tallied 29 points on 12-24 overall… and his three point barrage in the second quarter almost put the game out of reach before halftime.

Including tonight (3-for-4), LeBron is shooting .468 from deep (15-32) over his last 4.5 games — and that's including an 0-4 night vs MEM.

— Joe Gabriele (@CavsJoeG) December 22, 2016

LeBron also added nine boards and six dimes to his pre-holiday haul… and did it all in a relatively economical 34 minutes.

Tristan seemed to be constantly up on the rooftop (crash, crash, crash), as he controlled the glass… especially offensively. In fact, he had three more offensive boards (nine) than the Bucks did as a team (six). He had 15 rebounds total in just 26 minutes of play, which is a pretty astounding rate, and he was the primary reason the Cavs finally won the overall rebounding battle 44-39.

Double T doing what he does! 🔨 #DefendTheLand https://t.co/hB8cBwhTbp

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 22, 2016

RJ also gets to make this list along with Channing and Shump, as the three combined to give the Cavs that other 30 point reserve. They each chipped in 10 points and shot 11-23 overall with eight assists and five boards. RJ and Shump also provided some gritty defensive play… and I suppose DeAndre Liggins helped out a bit on that front as well. He didn’t do much offensively (not that it’s expected), although Liggs did hit the one corner three that he took and looked comfortable doing it.

Points on the perimeter and points in the paint both make the list. The Cavs shot an incredible 55.6% from beyond the arc, which seems almost impossible when you consider they took 27 threes and made 15… all without two of their primary shooters in KLove and J.R. Cleveland also finally won the battle in the paint 48-44 over the Christmas tree front line of Milwaukee.

Delly as a former Cav being recognized pre-game for his contributions to last year’s Championship team was awesome… as was his former teammates’ reaction. Good on ya, Delly!

Kevin Love. You leave a guy Home Alone… and look what he gets into…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOTX-Q5AVqB/?taken-by=kevinlove&hl=en

A Christmas Wish

This was one of those games you look at on the schedule and say “I won’t be upset if they mail this one in…” or at least that was my own feeling about it. The Cavs had seemingly exhausted themselves in overtime to prove a point (not only internally, but to the young Bucks) that they weren’t going to back down in Milwaukee. This seemed like an easy opportunity for Ty Lue to rest his stars and repeat the pattern from the previous week in the second night of the back to back with Memphis. And, it sounds like he tried to do just that… only his stars refused. They were still mad about the 19 point loss three weeks ago in Milwaukee. They wanted to dominate the Bucks and put them in their place. I love that about this team. They always play better when they have a chip on their shoulder. I hope I’m right that this game unlocked something in Kyrie (or was at least the fruition of something he unlocked through practice and by watching film). If that’s the case… the Warriors should probably watch out. Cause, it could be a merry Christmas to all… and to all a good night.