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Cavaliers Crush Bucks, 135-95

Milwaukee's slogan is "Fear the Deer," but nobody fears these Bucks without Giannis Antekounmpo; the two-time regular season MVP and 2021 NBA Finals MVP missed Milwaukee's game versus Cleveland on Wednesday night because of a right shoulder contusion, and the Cleveland Cavaliers routed the Bucks, 135-95. The Cavaliers are enjoying a six game winning streak, while the Bucks suffered their worst loss of the season and saw their three game winning streak end abruptly. Georges Niang poured in a game-high 33 points on 13-14 field goal shooting. Donovan Mitchell added 31 points on 12-19 field goal shooting while passing for a game-high seven assists (his teammate Isaac Okoro also had seven assists). Jarrett Allen scored 21 points on 9-15 field goal shooting while also snaring a game-high 13 rebounds as the Cavaliers outrebounded the Bucks 55-36.

The Cavaliers have the fourth best record in the Eastern Conference mainly because they rank third in the NBA in points allowed and fifth in defensive field goal percentage. Their high scoring output against Milwaukee's poor defense--which became atrocious defense sans Antetokounmpo--is a bit deceptive, because they rank just 21st in the NBA in scoring and 15th in field goal percentage. The Cavaliers look much like they did last year when they rode their defense to the fourth seed in the East before being bullied by the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. No matter how many regular season games the Cavaliers win, there will be justifiable skepticism about them until they prove that they can win a playoff series.

The Bucks have been championship contenders for the past several seasons, but they have only looked like a championship contender sporadically this season even though they have the second best record in the Eastern Conference. Whatever problems the franchise's ownership/executives thought were being caused by Coach Mike Budenholzer and guard Jrue Holiday have not been solved by replacing them with, respectively, Adrian Griffin and Damian Lillard. Griffin had not been a head coach at any level before being given the reins of one of the league's top teams, and his lack of experience has been painfully evident so far this season. Lillard has won the same number of playoff series in his career as the Bucks won during their 2021 championship season (four).

Lillard led the Bucks with 17 points versus the Cavaliers, but he shot just 7-20 from the field. It is obvious that Antetokounmpo's greatness has been covering up a lot of this team's flaws and weaknesses; he leads the squad in scoring (32.0 ppg), rebounding (11.7 rpg), field goal percentage (.608), and steals (1.3 spg).

In their previous game, the Bucks defeated the Sacramento Kings 143-142 in overtime on Sunday night as Antetokounmpo posted a triple double (27 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) and Lillard shot just 9-23 from the field but hit a game-winning logo three pointer and finished with 29 points. The Kings led 141-137 with 33.9 seconds remaining in overtime, and Malik Monk could have clinched the win with two free throws at the 18.4 second mark--but Monk missed both, and then Brook Lopez drained a three pointer to trim the margin to one point. After De'Aaron Fox split a pair of free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining, Lillard's long distance heroics delivered the win. Lillard's shot was a highlight moment, but where would the Bucks have been without Antetokounmpo's triple double?

The highlight of the Cavaliers-Bucks game was that Hubie Brown provided color commentary alongside Mark Jones. I am always happy when I get to watch a game that Brown calls, particularly now that he does not do games on a regular basis. As far as I know, Brown's previous game was game one of the 2023 Christmas Day quintupleheader when the New York Knicks defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, 129-122. That game was very similar to this game for Milwaukee: the Knicks jumped out to a 12 point first quarter lead, and maintained control the rest of the way (albeit not by as big a margin as the Cavaliers sustained). 

Before the game, Brown noted that the Cavaliers have feasted on sub-.500 teams. He said that is what they are supposed to do, but the key will be how they perform against the plus-.500 teams down the stretch, particularly because they will have more road games than home games the rest of the way. As the Cavaliers opened the game with a 22-2 run, Brown highlighted the Bucks' awful defense--particularly in transition--and near the end of the first half he offered a blunt assessment of Milwaukee's play: "That's embarrassing." The Cavaliers led 66-41 at halftime after outscoring the Bucks 32-16 in the paint and 22-2 in fastbreak points. Brown said, "Give Cleveland credit, they pitched a perfect half."

In the second half, the Cavaliers led by as many as 47 points as the Bucks' starters offered little resistance before Griffin pulled the plug and emptied his bench. Brown mentioned that in the NBA the next game happens quickly--unlike college or high school--but he said that the Bucks need some introspection regarding this performance: "You have to own up to the lack of professionalism that happened here tonight."

I picked Milwaukee to be the best team in the Eastern Conference not because of the Holiday-Lillard trade but despite it. I knew that the Bucks would miss Holiday's defense, leadership, and toughness, but I thought that Antetokounmpo's greatness and the team's overall defense would compensate for Lillard's shortcomings--but even Antetokounmpo can only do so much, and Lillard's negative impact on team defense is being exposed now that he is playing for a team that used to have an elite defense. Lillard's lack of size, effort, and tenacity are difficult to overcome. If anyone still wonders why I considered it fluky that Lillard led Portland to the 2019 Western Conference Finals, just examine Lillard's negative impact on Milwaukee's defense. Lillard can put up big numbers if he is provided with a lot of touches, but his numbers do not lead to consistent team success.

Labels: Cleveland Cavaliers, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Hubie Brown, Jarrett Allen, Milwaukee Bucks

posted by David Friedman @ 11:42 PM

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