Bucks, Cavs get immediate rematch after OT battle (Dec 21, 2016)
MILWAUKEE -- The young, rebuilding Milwaukee Bucks pushed the defending NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers to the limit Tuesday night before falling 114-108 in overtime.
The Bucks will get another chance against the Cavs on Wednesday night when the teams meet in Cleveland for the second part of a back-to-back, home-and-home series.
"They were going against the world champs and took them down to the wire," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said of his players. "We have a quick turnaround here ... but we get to watch video, clean up some of the mistakes and give them another fight."
The biggest obstacle for Milwaukee on Tuesday night was finishing. The Bucks shot a respectable 46 percent from the field but struggled at the rim. Milwaukee also settled for 3-pointers on multiple occasions, and the results weren't pretty. The Bucks went 7 of 27 from beyond the arc, including a 5-of-18 showing over the final two quarters and overtime.
"There were a lot of threes being taken," Kidd said. "For us, our strength is in the paint, but we need to be able to finish and ... we didn't finish when we had to."
After being run out of the gym in the teams' first meeting this season, the Cavs found a rhythm against Milwaukee on Tuesday -- especially from long distance, where they knocked down 17 3-pointers.
Overall, though, Cleveland shot just 40 percent from the floor and was dominated inside by the Bucks, who outscored the Cavs 54-28 in the paint and held a 51-43 advantage on the boards.
"It's big time for our team," said Cavs star LeBron James, who passed Moses Malone on Tuesday to move into eighth place in all-time NBA scoring. "It was a great road win. We know this team plays us tougher every single time.
"It was a big win for us to come in here and get a win in a building that last time we didn't play particularly well in and they beat up on us. It was a good win for us."
James played 47 minutes Tuesday, and Kyrie Irving (28 points) played 45 minutes. Richard Jefferson, starting in place of the injured Kevin Love, was on the floor for 35 minutes. Coach Tyronn Lue, who got attention for leaving his starters home to rest last week when the Cavs visited Memphis, had no plans to rest his top players late in the front end of this back-to-back.
"At that point (with the game being close), those guys weren't coming out," Lue said. "It put us into a tough situation with the game going into overtime. We were here, and it was a game we could win and we felt good. Kyrie and LeBron did a good job and brought us home."
Making matters more challenging, Cleveland could be playing short-handed again Wednesday. Love, who sustained a knee injury over the weekend against the Lakers, was described as questionable for Wednesday by Lue.
In addition, shooting guard J.R. Smith left the Tuesday game in the second quarter due to a right thumb injury and did not return. Tests were inconclusive, and more will be performed Wednesday. Smith has missed five games this season because of knee and ankle injuries.
