The Bucks came out with a vengeance after a shaky first quarter and put away the Cavs with a resounding 118-101 victory over the defending NBA champs Tuesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was the shining light for the Bucks yet again, matching his career high in points with 34. The points category was not the only area he shined in, as he flirted with a 5×5 yet again, posting 12 rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocked shots.
The Greek Freak is now one of two players this season (Anthony Davis) to record at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals in a game.
Cavaliers star player LeBron James noted the difficulty of facing a player with the skill set of Giannis.
“It’s always a challenge, especially for your defense because he plays multiple positions,” James said. “You’re never matched up against him one-on-one throughout the whole game. You know, he’s playing one, he’s playing the four, he’s playing the three, he’s playing the two. You always just gotta have your antennas up when he’s in the game.”
The antennas were not up for the Cavs the majority of the night, who conceded far too many mistakes on the defensive end of the ball. They also failed to match the level of intensity that Milwaukee brought out. Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue noted that in his postgame presser.
“I just didn’t like that we didn’t match [the Bucks’] phycicality,” Lue said. “I thought they were physical from one through five. They played harder than we did and that’s what happens.”
Lue continued by saying discussing how the stats fell in the Bucks’ favor.
“We gave up 68 points in the paint,” he said. “We didn’t get back in transition. [Milwaukee] scored 118 points with only seven threes. 68 points in the paint when we told them we had to protect the paint tonight. We just didn’t do it.”
In what’s becoming a tradition, Michael Beasley came off the bench and provided an instant spark to the Bucks offense. He fell two points of his season high, tallying 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He has now tallied double figures in three of his last four games and is now averaging 14.7 points per game in that stretch.
Hot shooting for Milwaukee was a big influencer in tonight’s game. The Bucks shot over 50 percent for the sixth time this season. When they shoot that percentage, they are 4-2.
For Cleveland, LeBron James led the way with a team-high 22 points while Kyrie Irving poured in 20 points of his own. The Cavaliers also extended its NBA record for consecutive games with ten or more 3-pointers to start the season to 16.
The Bucks now have back-to-back games against the Brooklyn Nets. They will head to Brooklyn this Thursday and return to Milwaukee to face off Saturday afternoon. That game will mark the start of a four-game home stand for the Bucks, a stretch in which they will take on the Spurs (12/5), Trail Blazers (12/7) and Hawks (12/9).