Live Thread: Cavs @ Bucks

Cleveland unveiled their statue of James Harden, Sunday. Unfortunately, they didn’t wait till he retired and opted to roll the statue out against the Mavericks. Harden played one of his worst games in a Cavs uniform: a 13 point, six turnover, 4-12 performance that saw him barely move on offense or defense, and dribble into the teeth of the defense with no plan time after time. It didn’t help that the rest of the Cavs regular rotation played as if James had taken them all to Christie’s till 4 am Sunday morning. Only Max Strus’ return to the fold saved the wine and gold from being collectively petrified. Strus put up 24 on 7-9 shooting with eight rebounds, and we all hope that excellence continues.

The Cavs return to Milwaukee looking to avenge a 118-116 loss from three weeks ago. They’ll be without CPJ, Jarrett Allen, and Tyrese Proctor, while Sam Merrill is questionable. For a normal team, the fact that Myles Turner and Giannis were late scratches would be welcome news. But for a Cavs team that likes to play down to its competition, that news doesn’t bode well. Ryan Rollins despite being sick, is going to try to give it a go. As someone who doesn’t want another flu running through my team, I hope he sits.

We’ll see if this Cavs team brings any energy into Milwaukee, and if Milwaukee plays like their playoff lives are on the line, because at 28-39 — 5.5 games behind the Hornets for the 10 seed — they are. Go Cavs.