Over the course on an 82-game season, every team is bound to have a clunker or two along the way – even a machine that’s been as running as smoothly as the Cavaliers have this year.
The Wine and Gold turned in one of those on Tuesday night – as the Bucks overcome an early deficit to shred Cleveland’s interior defense in the second half, handing the Cavs just their third loss of the season, a 118-101 decision at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Cleveland came into the contest having won three of its last four in Milwaukee, and the story went according to script early – with the Cavaliers jumping out to a two touchdown lead late in the first quarter.
But the Bucks closed the period on a 10-0 run and things spiraled from there. And by the three-minute mark of the third quarter, the roles were reversed, with the Wine and Gold trailing by 14. At that point, Tyronn Lue had seen enough – substituting his entire starting five as the Bucks had their way offensively.
His starters returned to the game early in the fourth, but the Bucks were well into their rhythm at that point, and by the midway point of the fourth, Lue emptied his bench for the second and final time.
The Big Three all performed well on Tuesday night.
LeBron James led Cleveland with 22 points to go with four boards and four assists – but he also committed a game-high seven turnovers, four of which, by his own admission, were unforced.
Kyrie Irving hit the 20-point mark for the 32 time in his last 37 outings – including Playoffs – finishing with 20 points on 5-for-12 shooting, including 2-of-5 from long range, to go with three assists and a steal.
The reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, Kevin Love, doubled-up for the 10th time in his last 11 outings – finishing with 13 points and a game-high 13 boards in the loss.
But neither the Big Three nor any other member of the Wine and Gold had an answer for the Greek Freak – Giannis Antetokounmpo – who tied a career-high with 34 points, going 13-of-19 from the floor (mostly from close-range) and adding 12 boards, five assists, five steals and a pair of blocked shots.
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