Recap: Cavs 108, Bucks 90 (Or get the Buck off my lawn)

Last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks refused to tank, as both teams front offices strived to make the playoffs. Fate had other plans. The Bucks ended with the worst record in the league and the Cavs finished five games back of the eight seed. The cosmic reward for both squads not intentionally losing as many games as possible was finishing first and second in the lottery, with the Bucks landing franchise cornerstone Jabari Parker and the Cavs obtaining a massive trade chip in Andrew Wiggins.

Sadly Parker tore his ACL months ago, but the Bucks have already improved on last seasons win total by a league best 19 games. If this squad doesn’t end up moving to Seattle, they appear to be the best candidate to displace the Cavs as the favorite in the East in three or four years.

I’ve never been to Milwaukee, but it’s on my summer Mancation travel itinerary so that I can attend my 17th MLB stadium. Once I’ve completed visiting every stadium, I’m going to work on my goal of being the first person to be kicked out of every stadium. Thus far, I’ve only been kicked out of Progressive Field and Angles Stadium. Honestly, I’m really giddy for the trip. Milwaukee is a city built on cheese and beer and that’s all any man really needs to be happy-that and they’ve got a fricken statue of Fonzie.

1^st Quarter: Timofey Mozgov fumbles the opening tip: a foreshadowing of the first half… You’d think these teams gorged all day on fried cheese curds, and that there was no soap to be found in the Bradley Center, as both combine for 23 turnovers in the first 24. Giannis Antetokounmpo flashes his developing range with a 17-foot jumper from the right wing. LeBron James loses Antetokounmpo off of a tiered double screen by Mozgov and Love, then splits Ersan Ilyasova and Michael Carter-Williams for a two handed jam from the shaded lane circle. I’ve questioned if LeBron’s athleticism has withered away with his growing layup frequency, but it’s possible he’s just saving himself for the playoffs or that he’s preparing for the his below the rim future. Either way, he hasn’t lost it yet. Antetokounmpo tips the ball away from Irving, then shows off his ridiculous length as it takes him just three steps to go from the top of the key three-point line (23.75 feet) to the rim for a layup. If he achieves half of his potential, he’s going to be a top 10 player in the league.

On the next play, the Cavs dial in a Ranadive, with a cherry pick touchdown pass to Irving who sets up Love for a dunk. Ilyasova receives a TD pass of his own from Zaza Pachulia, but is denied as LeBron challenges him at the rim. An Antetokounmpo dunk midway through the quarter stretches the Bucks lead to 8 and Blatt called a TO to regroup. Iman Shumpert and Tristian Thompson check in for James and Mozgov and the Cavs outscore the Bucks 11-3 over the next two minutes, including a three from J.R. Smith and a pair Kyrie assisted alley oops to Love and Thompson. A Shumpert three from the wing gives the Cavs their first lead of the game. LeBron misses a buzzer beating layup that rims out at the end of the quarter. BUCKS 26-25

2^nd Quarter: Shumpert drops a 16-foot jumper off of a Tristan Thompson pick to start the second frame. The young Bucks score layups on three consecutive possessions to take back the momentum of the game. Tristan Thompson draws a foul on a put back dunk from John Henson and Henson drops a fudge bomb while protesting the call. LeBron hits the technical and Thompson misses both free throws. Mozgov fakes a pick for Irving which draws Pachulia out of the lane and Moz cuts backdoor down the land for a high hand off from Kyrie. Moz battles down low with three Bucks and earns a jump ball against Tyler Ennis. A moment later Moz flushes a Shumpert missed layup for another dunk. The Cavs go around the world as LeBron beats Antetokounmpo off the dribble from the left wing and passes to Love in the right corner. Love rotates the ball to Kyrie at the top of the key, and Kyrie passes to a wide open J.R. Smith for a three from the left wing. LeBron drives past Ilyasova and makes a layup through contact. Kyrie beats Carter-Williams and Pachulia to the rack through contact and converts the free toss for a three point play. BUCKS 53-44

3^rd Quarter: Mozgov seals Pachulia and Love feeds our ornery Russian for an assisted dunk to open the Cavs first possession. Kyrie hits a three at the right wing off of a Mozgov hand off. LeBron splits the defense for a layup. LeBron skips the rock to Love in the corner for a three. Ilyasova receives the ball in the restricted area and is immediately rejected by LeBron as he goes up with it. Smith drains a three from the right wing off of a touch pass from Mozgov. On the next Cavs possession, Kyrie hits a 16-foot jumper off of a Mozgov pick on Jaryd Bayless. Henson blocks Thompson from behind, but it lands in LeBron’s hands for a one handed jam. LeBron beats Antetokounmpo off the dribble and boards his own miss for another layup to tie the game. Shumpert takes the lead with a Kyriesque layup with the left hand on the right side, with five seconds remaining in the quarter. CAVS 75-73

4^th Quarter: The final frame starts with a Smith steal and breakaway dunk. LeBron misses a layup and the ball bounces to Delly who immediately gives it back to LeBron for a two-handed Shaq dunk. Antetokounmpo sags off of LeBron and The King hits a three from the left wing. J.R. Smith drills three threes of his own on the next three Cavs possessions, the final being a LeBron assisted cross court skip pass from the corner. Delly hits a shot-clock buzzer beating three off of another LeBron dime. LeBron pump fakes Antetokounmpo off his feet draws three free throws, he hits all three. J.R. Smith steals the ball from Carter-Williams and leads a two on one fast break which leads to a one handed alley oop to LeBron. Blatt calls a 20-second time out with two minutes remaining and the zoo crew checks in. With four seconds remaining Iman Shumpert hits a buzzer beating three. CAVS 108-90

BOO: The Bucks have multiple names that never would have survived Ellis Island. Antetokounmpo would have become Adams. Pachulia would have become Parker. Ilyasova would have become Idle. The first names are just as bad. Khris and Jerryd are examples of parents trying to make common names unique. If your name is jacked up like that, you don’t have the right to blame anyone for misspelling it. It’s your parents fault. People put more thought into how they are going to order their burrito at Chipotle than they do on what they are going to name their children…This game was a tale of two halves for the Cavs. They posted a pathetic 8/10 assist to turnover ratio and shot just 40% from the field in the first half. The defensive rotations were lethargic and the Bucks repeatedly made uncontested layups and threes and shot a sizzling 60% from the field…Tristan Thompson seems to be in a funk. He went 1-5 from the field and 1-6 from the charity stripe…Kevin Love shot just 4-13. When the Cavs went on their run in the fourth, Love didn’t play a minute (neither did Kyrie). I’m sure that will provide the talking head argument shows filler for their run downs. Is Love gonna sign with LA? In a related story, the Cavs have won 31 more games than the Timberwolves thus far.

YAY: J.R. Smith erupted for 23 points on 11 shots, including 7 for 9 from downtown…LeBron James finished with 28 points, 10 boards, 6 assists and five steals, with 21 of his points coming in the second half…Iman Shumpert is becoming a witch. He posted the top plus/minus with +29, he was 2-3 from downtown and posted four boards and four dimes…The Cavs posted a 14/3 assist to turnover ratio in the second half and were deadly from downtown shooting a loco 52%. They outscored Milwaukee 64-37 in the second half…Congrats to Nate Smith for the Wichita State victory over Kansas. Rock Chalk Jayhawks, couldn’t handle the Shock. Below is a picture of perhaps the most famous Shocker alum, Paul Wight A.K.A The Big Show.