Recap: Cleveland 116, Milwaukee 97 (Or, He’s Still The King)

I must admit, I thought the Cavs had a good chance of dropping this game. The Bucks are long and tend to force the Cavs into a lot of turnovers. LeBron and company are still getting into the groove of things, and I saw this turning into a sloppy game of back and forth. Fortunately, for much of the game the pace was slow and the Cavs were able to come out and get a comfortable win against a tough squad, thanks to LeBron showing a young challenger why he’s still King of the hill.

1st Quarter:

The Cavs had trouble shooting it in the first quarter, especially from outside. They failed to make a single three pointer out of five tries, and even though they had some good looks, nothing was falling. The Bucks were not suffering from the same malady, as they were shooting lights out from beyond the arc. The Cavaliers kept pace until about half way through the first when they managed to tie it at 16. The rest of the quarter stayed close as I kept expecting the pace of the game to pickup. The Cavs had five turnovers in the first but it never turned into a track meet, the kind the Cavs would inevitably lose. Since that wasn’t the result, I guess I couldn’t be too disappointed. Score tied 25-25.

2nd Quarter:

The second quarter featured a lot back and forth in the half court. It never seemed like either team was playing exactly stellar defense, but more like neither was executing particularly well. There were patient possessions by both teams that seemingly ended with a tough shot or a poorly selected one.

I’m still not sure what Ty Lue’s game plan is when Jeff Green is in the game. He played the first five minutes of the quarter, and it seemed like he took just about every shot available. I was curious, so I went and looked it up. Of the nine shots taken during the five minute span, Green took five of them. That seems like too many. To be fair, Green made a few of those, and had some good cuts along the way. Despite seeing Green’s good side tonight, I would prefer he not be the primary offensive threat when he’s in the game.

Kyle Korver entered the game in the second quarter and was able to can a pair of threes. This was a welcome change from Tuesday night when he failed to take a shot in seven minutes of play. More to come on La Flama Blanca (spoiler: he keeps shooting and making threes). The rest of the quarter was a grind, with a whole lot less transition than one would expect to see between these two teams. Neither party held more than a four point lead until the last minute when the Cavs slowly crept ahead by six on a Jae Crowder layup. Cavs up 55-49 at the half.

3rd Quarter:

Historically, Cleveland has had a hard time coming out with the requisite energy to start third quarters. Fortunately, the Cavs were able to hold off a few pushes by the Bucks to get back into the game. Finally, someone other than Korver (thank you Jae Crowder!) made a three, and the Cavs started to separate themselves from their hosts about half way through the quarter. The Cavs picked up their energy and started to get a couple stops by forcing the pace and creating a few turnovers.

Then Cleveland turned it up to 11, and Korver looked like the shooter we all know and love as he hit three straight threes in just over a minute. KK’s outburst gave the Cavaliers a 12 point lead and some much needed breathing room. For the rest of the quarter the Cavs kept the Bucks at arms length, never allowing the gap closer than nine. They ended the quarter with a buzzer beater by Green which you can see below. Cavs were in control, 86-73.

4th Quarter:

The Cavs kept the pressure coming into the fourth, and managed to extend the lead to 16 in the first four minutes. They had Milwaukee well in hand from this point forward, as the defense was quick and reacting well, forcing turnovers and dictating the pace.

The three point shooting improved all around as the Cavs went 4-6 in the quarter, finishing the game 11-26, good for 42.3%. Milwaukee went cold at the wrong time, going 2-7 from three for fourth quarter and 11-35 on the game. There was a bad foul in the fourth on Rose when Greg Monroe gave him a horse collar on his way to the hoop. Though ruled a common foul, it caused Rose to land awkwardly on his ankle, ending his night on the court. Watch here as Rose drives and gets snagged out of mid-air.

Unfortunately, the Bucks kept the game within striking distance and prevented any significant early exit in this game. LeBron and the rest of the starters were finally pulled for the last minute of the game and we got to see Channing hit a nice garbage time three. Cavs prevail, 116-97.

Some Notes:

1 – LeBron James heard all about how Giannis Antetokounmpo is the possible heir to his crown as the best player in the NBA, but King James isn’t about to abdicate his throne anytime soon. Yes, the Greek Freak had another impressive line (34 points on 15-22 shooting with eight rebounds, eight assists, three steals and a block), but LeBron was a maestro controlling his team’s pace, tempo and defensive aggression all night. He responded with 24 points of his own on 10-16 shooting, with eight assists, five boards and this authoritative block on the young Alphabet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUDqyFIT_n4

Giannis might have the gifts to rise to Bron’s level one day, but even a rusty “out of shape” LBJ was able to coax much more out of his supporting cast than the young Greek, as witnessed by their +14 vs. -17 disparity on the court.

2 – Rose continues to impress with his drives. He has a great first step and once he gets his shoulder around the defender, he’s got no chance. It’s good to see Rose still has some of that quickness left in the tank. It was unfortunate he hurt the ankle in the fourth quarter. After the game, Ty Lue mentioned it didn’t look good, although he may have just been referring to Rose’s availability for the second night of the back to back against Orlando. No MRI or x-rays were indicated for the ankle.

Ty Lue said Derrick Rose sprained his ankle tonight and "it doesn't look good." Expecting Calderon to start at PG tmrw vs Orlando

— Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) October 21, 2017

3 – Kevin Love started strong, but wound up with a somewhat quieter than expected 17 and 12 night. Even though there aren’t a ton of plays run for him, he continues to haul in the rebounds and do a lot of the small things like being in the right place at the right time. He also showed a terrific ability to get to the line early by abusing the Bucks down low, as well as knock down technicals for the team. Those much talked about Love elbow sets are still nowhere to be found, though.

4 – The bench scored 45 points tonight led by Kyle Korver’s 17. Good to see some production finally coming from the second unit for a change. Also, there was much more of a balance of minutes to the top 10 rotation players by Ty Lue in the game in contrast to the opener against Boston.

5 – Overall, the Cavs played solid defensively and were aggressive with their switching and trapping. They allowed Giannis his second straight big night, but really didn’t let anyone else on the Bucks beat them. Malcolm Brogdon had some good moments with 16 points (4-9 from three), but no other Milwaukee player reached double digits.

6 – The Cavs made every one of their 17 free throws, which is kind of remarkable.

Overall, a good game for the Cavs who came out with a comfortable win against a tough team. It was great to see them get a good win against a playoff team after the odd near letdown against the Celtics following the Hayward injury. It was also a treat to see LeBron show a young MVP challenger that he still reigns supreme.

Cleveland plays Orlando at the Q tomorrow on the second night of a back to back. We’ll see how the old vets hold up, and hope for some positive news on that Rose ankle. Go Cavs!