Recap: Bucks 127, Cavs 105 (Or, That was Almost a Good Game)

The Cavs traveled to Milwaukee for a Sunday afternoon game against the best team in the NBA. After taking down the Bucks at home sans Giannis Antekokounmpo, the Cavs looked to steal another game against a playoff team. Let’s get to it.

1st Quarter: The Bucks got off to a hot start by drilling their first six shots from the field. Brook Lopez broke Channing Frye’s record for most threes in a season by a seven footer with the first of his three early bombs. Fortunately for the Cavs, Larry Nance Jr. also drilled a couple three balls to get keep the Cavs’ head above water.

The Bucks had no problem spacing the Cavs defense out before slicing them up on the inside. Nance didn’t have much of a chance against Giannis Antetokounmpo in one-on-one situations, and the Cleveland defense fared even worse when Bledsoe danced the Pick and Roll two step with his Freaky teammate.

With the Bucks finally missing some open looks, the Cavs were able to claw back during the middle of the quarter, going on a 10-2 run behind Kevin Love’s outlet passing and some Collin Sexton mid-range nylon. Ex-Cavalier George Hill fought back Cleveland’s rally with a quick six points against his former team. The Cavs could get no closer than three before Giannis added to his dunk total by yamming on a seemingly tiny Tristan Thompson. Seriously, the dude is a freak.

Still, considering the Bucks’ hot start, the Cavs acquitted themselves well by ending the quarter trailing by only five. Bucks 32-27. 

2nd Quarter: Brandon Knight, Jordan Clarkson, Nik Stauskas, David Nwaba, and Tristan Thompson trotted out for the start of period. I know David Nwaba plays bigger than his size, but going that small against the Bucks massive length is an easy way to subtly tank a game.

The Cavs were lucky to only be down seven points after the first three minutes of the second quarter. The Bucks missed some open shots that could have broken the game open. The Freak threw down yet another dunk on poor Tristan, only this time Nwaba was there for moral support. Yes, Giannis, a guy who used to be bullied by stronger players, simply went through the Cavs’ two strongest dudes.

Nwaba made a sweet pass off baseline to a hooking Tristan for a modicum of get back, but the Cavs felt lucky to get out of that stretch having only given up an extra bucket.

Out of the timeout, the Bucks waltzed to the cup on a regular basis, but the Cavs’ offensive hustle allowed them to stay within five. That was until Brook Lopez hit another deep trailing three. That was about when the dam broke. Lopez’s bucket only put the Bucks up eight, but it somehow felt like an early nail in the coffin. Cleveland had kept pace, but from odd places on the floor off of junk offense. The Bucks did what they wanted and was only limited by their own missed shots.

When Larry Nance and Kevin Love checked back into the game, the Cavs offense regained some cohesion. Larry Drew tried to get some horns and high-low action going for his sweet passing big men, but the Cavs shooters weren’t able to connect on the open shots the offense created.

Defensively, the Cavs did make it slightly more annoying for the Bucks to score, but there was still absolutely no solution for the giant problem that is The Greek Freak. You like dunks? Here ya go.

At the half, the Cavs trailed Milwaukee 68-55

3rd Quarter: Collin Sexton finally got a three to fall early in the second quarter. It would be the only three of the night for the sweet shooting rookie.

Most of the third quarter game action looked like a NCAA March Madness game between a plucky 16 seed with fifth year seniors vs a one seed with blue chip talent. Kevin Love played the role of fifth year senior, with talented junior Cedi Osman at his side. Their skill level and hustle made the game somewhat interesting, but when it came down to it, the one seed had the all world talent that swallowed up any good intentions. Giannis is just a far superior athlete.

It seemed every quality offensive action that the Cavs ran finished with a missed open shot. Ironically, the junkier the Cavs offensive possession, the better result. When all was said and done, the Bucks led by the same 13 points that they did at halftime. After three, 90-77.

4th Quarter: Larry Drew didn’t go as small to start the fourth as he did to start the second. Jordan Clarkson, Nik Stauskas, Cedi Osman, David Nwaba, and Tristan Thompson played with good energy, but lacked team flow action. Tristan had a particularly difficult time moving his feet quickly enough to stay on balance. In general, TT looked more like the injured player we saw last season than the productive guy we saw at the beginning of this campaign. It is hardly surprising considering how long he has been out, but his dead legs were noticeable.

The lead swelled to 18 points behind George Hill’s good shooting and Giannis’s continued dunk fest. Collin Sexton’s steal and dunk to cut the lead to 15  with just under six minutes remaining was the last semi-relevant moment of the evening. From there the Bucks drilled some open looks and ran way with the lead. C:tB favorite Bonzie Coleson even drained a corner three for good measure. Game time: 127-105

Thoughts: This was a quintessential “almost” game for the Cavs. When they ran good offense, they almost were rewarded with a made shot. They were almost talented enough to compete with a Bucks team that was only 90 percent interested.

It was almost a fantastic game by Kevin Love except that he didn’t make a high percentage. Larry Nance was almost an effective offensive player, but his more than occasional bout with the  butterfingers let this game slip into “blah” territory.

Love went for 20 and 19 in only 32 minutes, consistently pushed the ball with fantastic outlet passes and made 4-11 from deep. And still, he looked only like a capable player in contrast to the current best regular season player in the league, Giannis.

Everything The Freak did in this game was easy. No one on the Cavs had the slightest chance of stopping the young man. He dunked when he felt like it. When the game was boring, he got up some three point attempts just for practice. He terrorized the Cavs with four block shots and didn’t even seem like he was working very hard. Man, he is good.

Contrast that to Love and Nance who both looked like everything they tried was a struggle. Though Tristan had a decent stat line, he was a traffic cone on defense. Cedi had a decent floor game, but couldn’t hit a shot. Sometimes you see two teams play each other and it is clear how their entire season has gone. This was one of those games.

Collin Sexton had a rough game. The young man was due to have an off shooting night from three, but part of that had to do with the shots he was taking and the Bucks’ absurd length. Milwaukee wasn’t going to allow Sexton to have another game like he had the other night. They shut his water off in the half-court. To Collin’s credit, he ran when he could. It is promising that now an off night from him still translates to 18 points and six foul shots. I will never fault him for hoisting six threes and getting to the line.

Old friend, George Hill, had his best scoring game as a Buck with 17 points on only eight shots. Hill might end up being more important for them than they would like if Malcolm Brogdon doesn’t return to form for the post-season. Hill is good insurance, but is nowhere near the player that Brogdon is on both ends of the floor. With a healthy Brogdon, I would only take the Raptors in a tough seven game series over the Bucks. If he isn’t a full go, the Sixers and Celtics have a real shot.