Podcap: Milwaukee 119, Cleveland 116 (or, “One too Many Possessions”)

https://soundcloud.com/ctb-5/episode-155-one-too-many-possessions

Cleveland fell to the Bucks Tuesday in a thrilling game that saw Cleveland come back from a 20 point deficit in the late third to take a two point lead with 5:11 to go in the fourth quarter. All of this was done without the aid of LeBron Raymone James, as he sat for the entirety of the Cavs’ 24-2 comeback. The Cavaliers surge was keyed by Jeff Green’s nine second half points, seven of which came at the free throw as a direct result of attacking the basket in transition. Also key: Dwyane Wade’s 3-5 three point barrage online the the final quarter, including a personal 6-0 run on consecutive pull-up treys to give the Cavs their first lead of the fourth.

Despite the comeback, Ty Lue left his gassed bench in one too many possessions, and a Malcom Brogdon three gave the Bucks the lead again. LeBron’s heroics which included a filthy stepback trey and an and-1 to tie and later regain the lead, but a transition triple by Tony Snell put the Bucks up by two. After a wide open Korver miss, the Cavs almost got a loose ball, but James lost it between his legs and the Freak picked it up (see title pic) before a making game sealing layup.

With 5.3 seconds left, and down five LeBron still gave himself a miracle opportunity to tie by passing to himself off Antetokounmpo’s back then draining a three. The king ran out of miracles when he missed a 90-footer to tie after a Milwaukee free throw miss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWsJW4BHjBY

Nate and EG hopped in the podcast booth after this wild game to podcap about what worked for the Cavs, what didn’t, and why we didn’t feel too bad about this loss. Kevin Love’s fourth quarter absence seemed odd to both of us given his 21-10 line in just 30 minute. Couldn’t he have improves the Cavs’ rebounding, and been an improvement over Jae Crowder’s 0-5 brickfest from behind the arc? We marveled, though, at LeBron’s superior shooting (6-11 from three), Kyle Korver’s tough night (1-7 from the floor), and Jeff Green’s rim running relentlessness. We lamented the painful officiating that gave the Bucks a minimum of six undeserved points, and saw the Cavs repeatedly pummeled without consequences.

Beyond the game, we, discussed the triple-double-esque MVP tear LeBron is on, the Kobe Retirement, the idle threat of the Laker recruiting, LeBron’s ridiculous blocks, and the Cavs schedule going forward. We also talked about what TT means to this team, whether he should be playing over Frye, and how he affects the chemistry of the Cavs’ second unit.  We talked about the possibility of trading for Paul George, what we should name the Brooklyn pick, and wished everyone a Happy Holidays.

Finally, we gave an appropriate spoiler alert and spent a good ten minutes reviewing The Last Jedi. Only one of us came off as a cranky old man.

As always, you can listen above, on on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts or Google Play.