Recap: Milwaukee 119, Cleveland 110 (or, LeFreak > Dimes)

Editor’s Note: CtB’s own Tom Pestak went up to the game last night and watched the Cavs come all the way back from down 22 to down just three during crunch time before the Bucks put the screws to them. He offered these comments.

-Cavs were uneven offensively in the first half but shot the three really well.  Defensively they were a train wreck.  They let Eric Bledsoe step into an open mid-range jumper off simple P&R with regular-guy-looking Lopez.  Other than somewhat spirited feet sliding in iso situations, the Cavs were overwhelmed by the Bucks’ solid offensive execution.  Giannis is the only Bucks player that made any difficult shots and they put up.

– Caveman-Looking-Lopez did not make a 3 pointer in his first seven years in the league.  Last season he made seven 3s.  This season he’s already made seven and he hit one to end the First Quarter with the Bucks up 38-29

-In the second quarter, Eric Bledsoe decided that Jordan Clarkson was the only Cavalier worth any defensive attention and played very aggressive iso defense on him and spent a lot of energy denying him the ball – not something you see much in a regular season NBA game.  I wonder if they have some kind of history or if Bledsoe was just trying to end the game early.

-It looked the game was over midway through the 2nd quarter as the Bucks built up a 22 point lead.  The Cavs couldn’t generate any easy looks, made a variety of turnovers, and traded solid in-rhythm looks from Milwaukee for late shot-clock heaves that were no where close.  With Bledsoe snuffing out Clarkson, the other Cavalier bench ball handlers: Porter Jr, Delly, and McKinnie were ineffective.  Porter Jr. had a bad minute of real-time ball where he made two passing turnovers and missed a shot by a country mile.  McKinnie and Delly forced bad shots and missed as well.  Kevin Love tried finding Cedi Osman on a cut and he fumbled it out of bounds.

-George Hill sighting!  The old vet is still long, can still shoot, and looked very spry in this one, starting in the second quarter.  He actually imposed his will a few times throughout the game which is something Cavalier fans would have loved a few seasons ago.  Maybe his health is finally good?  His 65% True-Shooting Percentage this season would be the highest of his career. He also hit two clutch free throws to ice the game late as true Cavs fans scowled and thought of ’17. The Bucks ended the first half 67-47

-Sitting next to my friend and superfan Chris, I predicted a 130-95 final score.  Well, wouldn’t you know the Cavs came out half-time and shot the lights out.  After a very quiet first half, Collin Sexton and Darius Garland came to life, and in the last five and a half minutes, the Cavs made seven straight 3s (all excellent looks off good offensive execution) to cut a 19 point lead to eight.  (the Bucks were raining in shots too and George Hill had multiple answers to keep the Bucks boat afloat). Cleveland put up a 42 point third to end the period down 99-89.

-In the fourth the Cavs played a spirited game and cut the lead to three on a few occasions.  I disagreed with the decision to pull Clarkson out with 4:40 to go in the game because he was generating a lot of open looks and racking up assists. Enter Collin Sexton.

-The Bucks held the Cavs to four points in the last four minutes.  Sexton committed a bad turnover where he kept on dribbling and almost losing the ball and after the four different almost steals, the Bucks stole the ball.

-Giannis made a variety of shots in the fourth including a few tough ones to give the Bucks the lift they needed.

-All in all, it was a very fun second half to watch, it’s just a bummer the Cavs couldn’t couldn’t seem to execute when the Bucks turned up the defensive pressure.

Nate’s Notes:

– Garland breakout game? 21/1/6 with only a turnover. Teams aren’t going to lay off him at three. Still shoots too many floaters. Nice passing though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwYR60bin4w

-Larry Nance Jr. needs to shoot every time he is open till teams start committing to defending him at the arc. 18/9/1 on eight shots, including 3-4 from three!

-Delly can’t shoot, and the McKinnie, Porter, Clarkson, Zizic lineup was a disaster. (As noted above) Bledsoe cut off the head of the snake and rendered this lineup impotent. Someone send Matt to a shot specialist. KPJ doesn’t look like he knows what his role is sometimes.

-Cedi ran a lot of offense and looked really good doing it: several very nice finishes over length, 8-13 from the floor, 3-6 from three for 20 points, four dimes. Just a really nice game. Should be the starting 2. Solid D at times.

-Sexton plays like he’s in competition with his teammates. If someone else has it going, he doesn’t feed them, he’s gotta get “his” in there and has to throw up shots. 16/1/5 though on 15 shots. His down the stretch possessions were mostly irritating. He went 1-3 a lot early, and as the Bucks got lazy, he starting scoring on drives in the third.

-Cavs finally let Love touch the ball and he finished with 16/8/7 and actually looked engaged in the second half. He thrilled to Garland’s shooting and play (title pic). #FreeKevinLoveFromTheTyrannyOfCollinSexton

-Tristan’s finishing ability is deflating like a balloon. 4-12 tonight, and a lot of missed bunnies. Tough team, but probably, thankfully the kind of game that says, “oh yeah, maybe we shouldn’t give this guy a contract extension. What were we thinking?” He was a rebound machine though with 13 including five offensive.

-Zizic played three minutes in the early third. He was part of a tough stretch when the Cavs seemed right on the brink, but guys got afraid of the moment and overpassed (including him). You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, Ante.

-Cavs 32 assists on only 14 turnovers! Helps when you make Js. 23-10 free throw attempt disparity for the Bucks was annoying as was the 47-41 rebounding disparity. Milwaukee is LONG, and they box out. Only 14 turnovers tonight (to 13 for Milwaukee), and Beilein was ticked again on the disparity in traveling calls. Which he should be because Giannis walks all the GD time and never gets called for it. Darius Garland is still a foot shuffler though.

-As Tom notes below, this was a total midseason LeBron game from Giannis. Dude was just working on his J (2-8 from three) cause he knew he could take the Cavs whenever. He only played 32 minutes after twisting his ankle and still put up a monster night. This team is doomed though. They’re anti-clutch. Bledsoe was a choke artist even in this one (bricks and turnovers in crunch time), and Wes Matthews is just not that good.

Other Tom Thoughts:
-The LeBron/Giannis comps have been going on for years but I wanted to add another area where they are very similar.  Both players have really “quiet” dominant games.  It sounds strange since on the opening play Giannis dunked over Kevin Love and also had a fierce triple-tip drill flush to himself in the 4th and made a number of great shots down the stretch.  But the variety of ways he scores makes it deceptive.  When jump-shooting scorers go off for 30+ there are invariably moments where they hit a couple of deep Js in a row and that NBA-Jam “on fire” feeling captivates you.  1.0 LeBron and current Giannis just find so many ways to score and they almost never look the same on subsequent possessions.  And if they mix a few misses in there it does something to your memory that you don’t really think they’re dominating.  And then you look up and they have 30.

-This was my first Cavs game in years and I really like the changes to the Q, oh I mean Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.  The Larry OBrien Trophy, ring, and court display are fantastic and the hallways seem much cleaner and open than ever.

-It’s funny to me that the Cavs rely so heavily on Michigan hate to pump up the crowd.  As someone that grew up in NEO and now lives in SWO, there seem to be a lot more UM fans in Cleveland than in Dayton.  There were a couple of people wearing Cavs hats and Michigan T-shirts behind us.  Between timeouts the cameraman would pan between people were Michigan garb (loving boos) and OSU decor (“that’s right!” cheers).  But if I had to venture a guess, I would say that Steelers hate ratio of fans would be an order of magnitude higher than UM hate. Anyway, it was totally appropriate, and the Big Game is today so I get it.  But every Cavs game I’ve been to in my life I can remember Hang on Sloopy and Michigan logo on the Jumbotron during free throws.

-My completely wild guess as to fan ratios in each major city in Ohio for Major Ohio Sports:

Cleveland:
90% Cavs, 10% all others
95% Browns, 5% all others (Steelers 4%)
96% Indians, 4% all others (Yankees 2%)
70% Buckeyes, 10% Notre Dame, 10% Michigan, 10% all others
(Ncaa Bball) 50% Buckeyes, 30% CSU, 10% Kentucky, 10% Other

Columbus:
55% Cavs, 45% all others
60% Browns, 20% Bengals, 10% Steelers, 10% Others (Cowboys high)
70% Indians, 20% Reds, 10% all others (Yankees high)
98% Buckeyes, 2% contrarians
(Ncaa Bball) 85% Buckeyes, 10% Kentucky, 5% Other

Dayton:
40% Cavs, 60% all others (Lakers, Bulls, and Celtics high)
35% Browns, 45% Bengals, 10% Steelers, 10% Others (Cowboys high)
10% Indians, 80% Reds, 10% all others (Yankees high)
85% Buckeyes, 6% ND, 5% Michigan, 4% other

(Ncaa Bball) 50% Dayton, 15% Buckeyes, 15% Wright State, 10% Kentucky, 10% Other (UC, Xavier, Indiana, Purdue, Louisville)

Cincinnati:
15% Cavs, 85% all others (Lakers, Bulls, and Celtics high)
8% Browns, 82% Bengals, 5% Steelers, 5% Others (Cowboys high)
2% Indians, 90% Reds, 8% all others (Yankees high)
35% Buckeyes, 10% ND, 5% Michigan, 45% UC 5% other
(Ncaa ball)
55% UC, 25% Xavier, 10% Kentucky, 5% Louisville, 5% other

Toledo: (I really have no clue)
60% Cavs, 30% Pistons, 10% all others (Lakers, Bulls, and Celtics high)
60% Browns, 15% Bengals, 15% Lions, 10% Others (Steelers, Cowboys high)
60% Indians, 20% Reds, 15% Tigers, 5% all others (Yankees high)
40% Buckeyes, 20% ND, 20% Michigan, 10% Toledo 5% Bowling Green, 5% other
(Ncaa ball) 40% Toledo, 20% Bowling Green, 40% others (Editor’s note: We all know this should be 40% Michigan)

Akron: (ask Nate)
70% Cavs, 25% Lakers (“I’m a LeBron fan”), 5% all Others
80% Browns, 19% Steelers, 1% Others
85% Indians, 5% Reds, 5% Others
85% Buckeyes, 10% ND, 10% Michigan Trollhards, 10% Akron/Kent (We give 115%)
(NCAA Ball) 35% Akron, 35% Buckeyes, 10% Kent, 20% Others

Canton: (ask Nate)
85% Cavs, 15% (“You watch that?”)
75% Browns, 20% Steelers (and climbing as you move east), 5% others
95% Indians, 5% Others
90% Buckeyes, 5% Michigan Trolls, 5% Mount Union
(NCAA Ball) 90% Buckeyes, 10% Akron