One night after concluding their #AllForOhio tour in Columbus, the Cavaliers returned to Cleveland on Tuesday for their first preseason game of the 2015-16 campaign at Quicken Loans Arena.
Without LeBron James, J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov in the lineup – (along with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Iman Shumpert, still all rehabbing their respective injuries) – the Milwaukee Bucks spoiled the Wine and Gold's preseason home opener, outscoring the Cavs 35-23 in the fourth quarter to come away with the 110-101 victory.
Cleveland (0-4) got off to a fast start in the first quarter, scoring the game's first nine points and taking advantage of the Bucks' small starting lineup with center Sasha Kaun's activity in the paint. Kaun tallied six points on 3-of-3 shooting as the Wine and Gold held a 31-23 lead after the first stanza.
After establishing a presence inside, the Cavaliers were able to get open shots from outside and attack the basket from the perimeter throughout the entire first half. Cleveland knocked down six triples and 19 free throws compared to Milwaukee's one three-pointer and eight points from the charity stripe as the Cavs took a 51-45 advantage into the break.
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Mo drains the triple.
Watch final game highlights.
“For us, it was important to attack the basket," commented Mo Williams. "It showed when we were in the bonus early and often. That was a point of emphasis and I thought we did a good job of getting to the line – even I shot free throws and I don’t really get to the line that much.”
The Cavs started the second half much like the first, going on a 9-0 run as their lead ballooned to their largest of the contest at 60-45. Milwaukee would battle back and trimmed the Cavaliers lead to 78-75 heading into the final quarter.
With Milwaukee (1-2) still playing most of their starters, the Bucks dominated Cleveland in the final period. At the 10:51 mark, O.J. Mayo canned a triple to give the Bucks their first lead of the game at 80-78. Mo Williams quickly answered back with a trey of his own in transition to give the Cavs their lead back.
The Cavs and Bucks would then trade buckets for a couple of possessions until John Henson's back-to-back baskets gave Milwaukee a 91-86 lead forcing a timeout from Cavaliers head coach, David Blatt. The Bucks didn't look back from that point on and cruised the rest of the way for the victory.
Greg Monroe and rookie Rashad Vaughn scored 19 apiece for the Bucks. Monroe added 13 rebounds and Henson chipped in 16 points and 10 boards for Milwaukee.
Cleveland had a preseason-high five players score in double figures tonight: Mo Williams (18), Richard Jefferson (16), Matthew Dellavedova (13), Joe Harris (10) and Jared Cunningham (10).
The Wine and Gold return to preseason action on Thursday night as they welcome another division foe, the Indiana Pacers, at The Q. Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m. ET.