CLEVELAND - When the halftime buzzer blared during Friday night’s game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Cleveland Cavaliers headed to the locker room with a 59-52 lead.
That 7-point lead was quickly erased and replaced by a 40-21 Milwaukee Bucks run in the third quarter of the visitors’ 119-111 win. Giannis Antetokounmpo totaled 34 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists while Damian Lillard added 31 points to help stave off the Cavs’ late-game rally.
“They did a really good job of denying us all over the floor and being physical with us,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff described the Bucks’ run after the game. “Offensively, you could see they had their mind made up that they were just going to attack our paint and put a ton of pressure on us. I think it took us just a minute to get our feet back.”
Also hurting the Cavs: a grand struggle from the 3-point line. Cleveland made just six of 43 attempts from beyond the arc, finishing with a season-worst 14% shooting percentage.
“We didn’t make shots,” said guard Donovan Mitchell. “We did a lot of really good things, but we didn’t make shots. I don’t expect myself, Max Strus, Georges Niang, Caris Levert, Sam Merrill to go [6 of 43]. That makes or breaks the game.
“That’s the glaring thing for me, and they weren’t bad misses. There were ‘in-and-outs’, and things like that. Sometimes that’s the nature of the game. You can play great defense, but at the end of the day, if the ball doesn’t go in…what are you gonna do?”
Mitchell returned from a four-game absence to score a team-best 34 points while totaling 12 rebounds and six assists.
“It was a pretty rough week and a half for me,” said Mitchell. “Was in the bad for four days, didn’t move. Had to go home, didn’t move. I felt better than expected, and you realize how much you’ve missed a game when you’re just sitting at home doing absolutely nothing.”
Mitchell, however, did see a silver lining in the Cavs’ overall performance: ”Obviously, a loss is a loss, but we did a lot of really good things. Ultimately, it just didn’t result in points.”
Down by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter, Cleveland managed to cut the deficit to four as Craig Porter Jr. went 6-of-9 from the field to score all of his 14 points in the final period.
“He’s fearless," said Bickerstaff. "He just has the ability to get to a spot. He knows what his game is. He’s not a typical rookie that comes into the league trying to figure out who they are. The years he had, and the journey he had, gave him a clear understanding of who he is, and how he can be impactful.”
Jarrett Allen continued his hot streak by making his first nine field goal attempts to finish with a career-high 30 points on 15-of-17 shooting - against the likes of Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez guarding the paint. Allen, who also finished with 12 rebounds and six assists, cited his aggressiveness for his recent stretch.
“I feel like I’m being more aggressive, just trying to find my spots to score, and even create more for myself…I feel like I’m going slower with the ball. Being more methodical about making the right pass. I’m not just looking to swing the ball and go set a pick-and-roll. I’m starting to look more for cutters and people slashing to the rim.”
The Cavs (18-14) will kick off the new year with a road trip to Toronto on Monday (7:30 p.m. tip-off).
