The Cleveland Cavaliers put an exclamation point on a night when they clinched the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and captured the Central Division title, finishing the evening with a 104-99 win against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Cavs entered the game needing either a win against the Bucks or a loss by the Chicago Bulls in Orlando to win the Central for the first time since 2010 and solidify their place in the standings. They got both.
“It means a lot,” LeBron James said. “Just from the simple fact that I understand how hard it is to win in professional sports and to be able to clinch a division and put a banner in our building it means something to me and it should mean something to all of us. It’s not guaranteed every year in a tough NBA, with the competition. We understand we have bigger goals than this but along with bigger goals you have accomplishments you can’t take for granted.”
With less than eight minutes remaining in the third quarter, word spread throughout the media section inside the BMO Harris Bradley Center that Chicago had lost.
Meanwhile, the Cavs were in a battle against the shorthanded, but pesky Bucks, who rallied from a 15-point deficit to retake the lead with 2:28 remaining in the third quarter after Khris Middleton’s reverse layup. Middleton’s basket capped off a 21-4 spurt, giving the Bucks their first lead since the 5:05 mark of the first quarter.
The two likely playoff teams went back and forth in a game that featured nine lead changes, but J.R. Smith’s jumper with 7:48 left gave the Cavs an 85-84 lead, one they didn’t relinquish.
Still, the Bucks fought until the end, cutting the Cavs’ lead to two on a driving layup by O.J. Mayo with 35.5 seconds left. James’ step-back three-pointer from the right wing in front of Jared Dudley with 14.1 seconds put it out of reach.
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