Wednesday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Cleveland Cavaliers ended the Milwaukee Bucks’ three-game winning streak with a 135-95 triumph, earning them their sixth consecutive victory. The Cavaliers advanced to 24-15 while the Bucks dropped to 28-13.

Cleveland and Milwaukee will play two more times in the upcoming week, on January 24 and 26, at Fiserv Forum.

About midway through the third quarter, Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin benched his starters because he was already without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. In 25 minutes, Damian Lillard scored 17 points on 7 of 20 shots to lead that group. Malik Beasley was 1 for 6 while Khris Middleton was 1 for 10. Out of 47 tries, the starting lineup for the Bucks only managed 17 made shots.

Cavaliers 135 – Bucks 95 in the box score

Right off the bench, Bobby Portis scored 16 points.

In 26 minutes, Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points for the Cavaliers on 12 of 19 shots. For Cleveland’s starting lineup, Jarrett Allen finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 15 minutes played. Isaac Okoro added 15 points. Coming off the bench, Georges Niang scored 33 points, a career-high, while shooting 13 of 14 from the field, including 5 of 6 from beyond the three-point line.

Start to the first quarter dooms the cold-shooting Bucks

The Bucks trailed the Cavaliers the entire game after falling behind 6-0 in the first minute, falling behind 22-2 in less than six minutes. Milwaukee missed nine of its first ten shots, while Cleveland made eight of its first nine.

Twenty-point deficits, particularly those built up so early in a game, don’t always mean that the game will finish badly, but the Bucks were unable to convert their opportunities. Milwaukee narrowed Cleveland’s advantage to as little as eight points, but Mitchell and Niang in particular were unable to miss for the Cavaliers.

Together, Mitchell and Niang scored 39 points in the first half on 16 of 22 shots, including 7 of 11 from beyond the three-point arc.

In the meantime, Middleton and Lillard combined to shoot 3-for-14 in the opening quarter and 4-for-21 in the first half. The Cavaliers led 66-41 at the half thanks to a perfect 7-for-7 shooting effort from Middleton and an 8-for-8 shooting performance from Niang.

Early in the third quarter, the Cavaliers extended their lead to 32 points. The Bucks’ icy start provided Cleveland’s strong defensive team with a lead they wouldn’t let up. Then, with the deficit ballooning to forty points halfway through the third quarter, all of the Bucks starters were benched. With an opponent scoring only 110.7 points per game, the Cavaliers had the third-best scoring defense in the NBA going into this match.

Giannis Antetokounmpo’s bruised shoulder prevents him from playing.

Even at 3:30 p.m. CT, Antetokounmpo was not listed as injured; however, the two-time MVP was not on the court as Middleton started warming up, which is also when Antetokounmpo does. Antetokounmpo was labeled as out with a right shoulder contusion on the 4:30 p.m. CT injury report.

“He went through shootaround and then prior to the game tonight he just felt that he couldn’t go,” Griffin explained. We’re just being astute, then. It won’t be several games, in my opinion. For now, it might simply be day-to-day.”

The 29-year-old had the same injury listed on the injury report before the Bucks’ victory over Sacramento on Sunday, but he overcame it to post a triple-double. His 29-game run of straight victories comes to an end with this. It was his longest since the 2020–21 season, when he played 31 consecutive games.

With 5.9 assists and a team-high 31.2 points and 11.4 rebounds per game, Antetokounmpo is leading the way.

“It’s more Dame Lillard, more Dame Lillard, more Dame Lillard and how you put your attention there to help kind of slow him down,” Cleveland head coach J.B. Bickerstaff stated before to the game when asked about his expectations. It’s not intended as a jab at the other guys. They’ve taken home the title. Bobby Portis and Brook Lopez are two players who have helped win a championship. Those guys have the kind of mindset that makes them intimidating because they think they can do great things.

“You need to be strong there because Dame will undoubtedly see an uptick in usage, but you also can’t allow another man to in and become an X-factor. It is impossible to allow Lopez to have a tremendous night of deep 3-point shooting or Bobby Portis to bring the fire and energy that he brings. You must equal or surpass that and refrain from letting him play that kind of a role.”

Although Lillard made an effort to get going, he only made two trips to the free throw line (2-for-3) and finished the game 7-for-20 overall, including 1 for 6 from beyond the three-point line. Cleveland did a great job of preventing Lopez (11 points) and Portis (14) from having a significant impact.

Antetokounmpo’s absence from a nationally televised game did not violate the league’s new player participation guideline because Middleton and Lillard, two other all-stars, were playing.

For the Bucks, Andre Jackson Jr. rides the rookie roller coaster

Andre Jackson Jr. will inevitably experience ups and downs as a rookie, and this past week he rode the roller coaster. He recorded his first double-double of the season and was a major factor in the Bucks’ victory over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. Despite not playing for over a full quarter, his squad was nevertheless supported by his enthusiasm and physical prowess. He then started in place of Middleton on Sunday against Sacramento due to right knee management, but in just ten minutes, he was flagged for five fouls.

Thirteen seconds into the game on Wednesday, he was called for a foul, replacing Antetokounmpo in the starting lineup. Not much better, as he pulled down an offensive rebound but missed his three-point attempt from the corner, allowing Mitchell to jump. Mitchell stole another offensive rebound, setting for a Cleveland dunk in the other direction. The Cavaliers then converted a missed shot into a layup, forcing Middleton to tell Jackson to return to transition defense.

Afterwards, he concluded the game with a string of impressive offensive plays, which included a 19-foot shot and a fast-break driving layup. He had eight rebounds and six points in the end.

Jae Crowder is back for the Bucks.

For the first time since November 11, Jae Crowder made his way back to the court with the Bucks. The 33-year-old Marquette University alumni needed surgery on November 14 after suffering a torn left adductor, which took him out of a game in Orlando. Last week, Crowder started working on his skills in five-on-five situations and came back with a minute restriction.

“No. 1, Jae has worked extremely hard to get back 100% in all of his rehab and just poured it all out there,” Griffin stated. “Having his seasoned leadership and presence on the court just adds another seasoned player to our bench, which is something we’re grateful for.” ecstatic with it.”

At 2:59 into the first quarter, with the Bucks behind 28–11, Crowder checked in for the first time. He then used the deep reserves to play the remaining minutes of the fourth quarter, bringing his total to just about 20.

Perhaps more crucially, he was able to make contact, hit the court, and rebound without causing any noticeable problems. He finished the game with five of thirteen points. He appeared to be moving and taking off smoothly as well.

Crowder averaged 8.1 points in 26.7 minutes per game and made 51.6% of his three-pointers in his first nine games.