Bucks-Cavaliers Preview

By BRETT HUSTON
Posted Jan 25 2013 1:20PM

The Milwaukee Bucks just gave their general manager a three-year extension, they're 6-2 under an interim coach and they're about to face a team they have mostly beaten of late.

If Kyrie Irving plays near the level he did his last time out, though, the Cleveland Cavaliers can hardly be overlooked.

The Bucks look to match their longest winning streak of the season at four Friday night while looking for a fifth straight victory in Cleveland, where Irving will try to deliver an encore to his second career 40-point performance.

It's been a little more than two weeks since Milwaukee (22-18) and coach Scott Skiles parted ways, but the Bucks have responded well under Jim Boylan. After returning from a 3-1 road trip to face Philadelphia on Tuesday, they shot a season high-tying 51.9 percent in a 110-102 victory.

A day later, Milwaukee extended general manager John Hammond, who has some major decisions looming with Brandon Jennings a restricted free agent this summer and Monta Ellis eligible to opt out of his deal.

"Everything is going well right now," said Jennings, who has 55 points and 15 assists over his last two games. "We are playing with lots of confidence. (Beating Philadelphia) was a big win for us as in the past when we win a few games, we end up losing to a team we should not lose to."

His team defeated the lowly Cavaliers (11-32) twice this season and nine straight overall before a 94-82 home loss Dec. 22. Jennings had one of his worst games with seven points on 3-of-13 shooting.

The oddity of that defeat was that Milwaukee contained Irving, who had scored at least 26 in each of his first four career meetings with the Bucks. The reigning Rookie of the Year was held to 15, but five other Cleveland players scored in double figures while only Ellis (season-high 37) did for Milwaukee.

Ellis has averaged 30.8 points over the last four meetings and may now find himself in a back-and-forth battle with Irving. After failing to score more than 18 points on three of the final four stops on Cleveland's road trip, Irving exploded for 40 - 15 in the fourth quarter - in Tuesday's 95-90 win over Boston.

The Cavs are 4-2 this season when Irving scores more than 30.

"When he's aggressive, everyone picks up on that," coach Byron Scott said. "... That's the type of player that we need out there. He's obviously capable of doing that every single night. When he's aggressive, he makes us a better basketball team."

Scott will have some new additions to work into the rotation after general manager Chris Grant took advantage of Memphis' desire to get under the luxury tax Tuesday by acquiring Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington and Josh Selby along with a future first-round pick for Jon Leuer.

Selby was sent to the Cavs' NBA Development League affiliate, but Speights and Ellington will debut Friday after Scott initially said he'd wait until they had an opportunity to practice.

Milwaukee won't be too excited to see Speights. He totaled 28 points and 15 rebounds in 39 minutes off the bench for Memphis in two wins over the Bucks earlier this season.

Milwaukee big man Ersan Ilyasova, a disappointment after signing a five-year, $40 million extension in the offseason, has averaged 6.7 points on 29.2 percent shooting in the season series. However, he's scored 54 points and grabbed 30 rebounds in his last two games.

The Bucks' four-game win streak in Cleveland includes a 90-86 victory Dec. 14, when the Cavs had 27 turnovers - their most in more than five years.

Irving scores 35 as Cavs rally for 113-108 win

Posted Jan 25 2013 11:21PM

CLEVELAND (AP) Kyrie Irving knows how to celebrate good news.

A little over 24 hours after being selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star team in Houston, the Cavaliers' dynamic point guard put on a show.

Irving scored 35 points and Cleveland rallied from a 20-point deficit in the third quarter to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 113-108 on Friday night.

The reigning rookie of the year scored 24 points in the second half, including 16 in the third when the Cavaliers got back in the game. Irving added eight points in the final 4:01 as Cleveland posted back-to-back wins for only the second time this season.

Coming off a 40-point performance against Boston on Tuesday, Irving hit 12 of 17 from the field and made all nine of his free throws. He missed one shot in nine attempts in the second half.

"The last couple of games have been fun," Irving said. "Even at practice, we just know when we're going to be focused to dial it up and get that attitude."

Irving is also following instructions from Cavaliers coach Byron Scott.

"Coach told me to be aggressive and I'll continue to be aggressive," he said.

"He's a hell of a young player," Scott said. "When we drafted him we knew that. When we got him at practice we knew we had really struck gold because I didn't think he was as good as he was until we had him in training camp. Then we were really excited. We said this kid is a lot better than we thought."

Cleveland, which trailed 79-59 midway through the third quarter, took a 96-95 lead on a 3-pointer by newly acquired Wayne Ellington with 6:31 to play. The basket was his first since joining the Cavaliers from Memphis on Tuesday, and it gave Cleveland the lead for good.

Ersan Ilyasova scored a season-high 30 points and Monta Ellis added 21, but the Bucks' collapse ended their three-game winning streak. Even hitting a season-high 14 3-pointers in 28 attempts couldn't save Milwaukee.

"In the second, third and fourth quarters, we gave them 30-plus points," Bucks interim coach Jim Boylan said. "They kind of had their way with us. They played well and deserved to win the game."

Following Ellington's basket, a 3-pointer by Daniel Gibson, a breakaway layup by Shaun Livingston and a foul shot by Marreese Speights helped Cleveland build a 102-95 lead.

Ellis' 3-pointer cut the margin to 102-98, but Irving's basket gave Cleveland a six-point lead. Baskets by Brandon Jennings and Larry Sanders made it 104-102, but Speights, also acquired in the deal with Memphis, hit a basket and a foul shot to put the Cavaliers ahead 107-102 with 1:06 remaining.

Ilysaova's basket made it a three-point game, but Irving added a jumper and four free throws to put it away.

Milwaukee, which led 59-50 at halftime, hit its first four shots of the third quarter, including another 3-pointer by Ilyasova and Jennings' first basket of the game. That led to a quick timeout by Scott, but lead reached 79-59 midway through the period before the Cavaliers cut the margin to 90-81 by the end of the period thanks mostly to Irving, who hit 5 of 6 from the field.

The Cavaliers trimmed the lead to 90-87 early in the fourth quarter and outscored the Bucks 32-18 in the period. Scott went with a combination of Luke Walton, Gibson, Livingston, Speights and Ellington for most of the quarter.

"It's pretty simple," Scott said. "I told my guys to thank the second unit. They won the game for us."

"We started aggressively, but we kind of gave up the game," Ilyasova said. "Their second unit hustled and we gave up a lot of easy buckets."

Tristan Thompson scored 18 points and Dion Waiters added 16 for the Cavaliers. Livingston scored 12 points. Speights had 10 points and had six rebounds in 18 minutes.

Jennings, who was left off the Eastern Conference All-Star team by coaches picking the reserves, scored 14 points for the Bucks, but was 5 of 19 from the field and was scoreless in the first half. He finished with 12 assists. Sanders had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bucks are 6-3 under Boylan, who replaced Scott Skiles on Jan. 8.

Trailing 31-30 early in the second quarter, Ilyasova hit three 3-pointers in 1:29 to help the Bucks build a 41-33 lead. The margin reached 11 points and the Bucks were ahead 59-50 at halftime. Milwaukee scored 38 points in the quarter - a season high for any period this season - and hit 15 of 24 from the field.

NOTES: Milwaukee hasn't had a player in the All-Star Game since 2004 when Michael Redd made the team. ... The Bucks host Golden State on Saturday night. ... Milwaukee is 17-10 against Eastern Conference teams. ... .. Cleveland G C.J. Miles, who had been battling the flu, dressed, but didn't play. ... Cleveland is 2-9 against the Central Division. ... The Cavaliers play at Toronto on Saturday.

Notebook: Cavaliers 113, Bucks 108

Brian Dulik, for NBA.com
Posted Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:02 AM - Updated Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:02 AM

THE FACTS: Point guard Kyrie Irving scored 24 of his game-high 35 points in the second half as the Cleveland Cavaliers stunned the Milwaukee Bucks 113-108 at Quicken Loans Arena. Power forward Tristan Thompson added 18 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots for Cleveland, which trailed by 20 points midway through the third quarter. Milwaukee small forward Ersan Ilyasova scored a season-high 30 points, while shooting guard Monta Ellis had 21 points, six rebounds and nine assists. The victory gave the Cavaliers their first three-game home winning streak since November 16-27, 2010.

QUOTABLE: "The energy in the whole arena was there tonight. It was fun to watch and fun to be a part of. We just kept crawling back. Once we got back into it, that was basically the game."
-- Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving

THE STAT: The Cavaliers outscored the Bucks 21-5 over the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter -- despite using an all-reserve lineup of center Marreese Speights, power forward Luke Walton, small forward Wayne Ellington, shooting guard Shaun Livingston, and point guard Daniel Gibson. Milwaukee led 90-81 at the start of the period, but trailed 102-95 before Cleveland coach Byron Scott put Irving back into the game with 4:01 left. "I told my guys to thank the second unit," Scott said. "They won the game for us tonight. It's that simple."

TURNING POINT: Ellington grabbed a defensive rebound, then buried a long 3-pointer to put the Cavaliers ahead for good at 96-95 with 6:31 remaining in the fourth. Gibson followed with another trey, Livingston added a fast-break layup, and Speights made one free throw to give Cleveland its largest advantage at 102-95. "We started off aggressively, but we kind of gave up the game," Ilyasova said. "Their second unit hustled and we gave up a lot of easy buckets." Milwaukee led 79-59 with 6:04 left in the third, but was outscored 54-29 the rest of the way.

QUOTABLE II: "Their second group did a hell of a job in the fourth quarter. Speights came in and knocked down some big shots. So did Livingston. As a team, they just played great -- everybody -- at the end."
-- Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings

HOT: The Cavaliers' comeback was their largest since rallying from a 21-point deficit to beat Detroit on March 5, 2010. ... Irving is averaging 26.7 points and shooting .557 from the floor in six career games against Milwaukee. ... Livingston scored a season-high 12 points. ... Speights collected 10 points and six rebounds in 18 minutes in his Cleveland debut. ... The Bucks made a season-high 14 3-pointers, led by Ilyasova's 5-for-6 performance. ... Milwaukee's 38 points in the second were their most in a quarter in 2012-2013. ... Ilyasova connected on three 3-pointers in an 89-second span in the second.

NOT: Bucks small forward Mike Dunleavy Jr. made one hoop in 29 minutes, shooting 1-for-6 with three turnovers. ... Jennings didn't score until the third quarter and finished 5-for-19 from the field. His 10 3-point attempts in the second half tied the arena record. ... Milwaukee is the only Central Division team to lose to Cleveland this season. ... Cavaliers shooting guard C.J. Miles was in uniform, but sat out his second straight game with the flu. ... Cleveland is 2-9 within the Central Division. ... Cavaliers small forwards Alonzo Gee and Omri Casspi combined to shoot 1-for-6 with five turnovers in 36 minutes.

QUOTABLE III: "This is a good fit for me. It's a young team. The whole city welcomed me when I came here, and I'm happy to be on a team where fans welcome teamwork."
-- Cavaliers center Marreese Speights

GOOD MOVE: Scott modified his policy of making Cavaliers players participate in a practice before being activated. He allowed Speights and Ellington to play less than 24 hours after their acquisition from Memphis was finalized by the NBA office. "I didn't want to penalize them because they came here in a trade," Scott explained. "It's not like they were injured and had to prove to me they were healthy." The ex-Grizzlies combined for 11 points, six rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes.

BAD MOVE: Bucks coach Jim Boylan kept savvy veterans Samuel Dalembert, Drew Gooden and Marquis Daniels glued to the bench all evening. The Cavaliers scored 95 points over the final three periods, exposing defensive weaknesses that the aforementioned trio could have prevented. "In the second, third and fourth quarters, we gave (Cleveland) 30-plus points," Boylan said. "They kind of had their way with us. They played well and they deserved to win the game."

NOTABLE: Irving is the sixth-youngest player ever to be named to the NBA All-Star Game. The reigning NBA Rookie of the Year was chosen as a reserve by the Eastern Conference coaches on Thursday. ... Cleveland's inactives were point guard Josh Selby (NBA D-League assignment with Canton Charge) and center Anderson Varejao (blood clots in lungs, right knee surgery). Milwaukee's inactives were both healthy scratches in center Joel Przybilla and shooting guard Doron Lamb. ... The Cavaliers picked up Speights, Ellington, Selby and a first-round draft pick from Memphis in exchange for seldom-used power forward Jon Leuer.

UP NEXT: For the Bucks, Saturday vs. Golden State, Tuesday @ Detroit, Wednesday vs. Chicago. For the Cavaliers, Saturday @ Toronto, Tuesday vs. Golden State, Friday @ Detroit.

• Bucks: Lamb, Przybilla
• Cavaliers: Selby, Varejao

• Bucks: --
• Cavaliers: --

• Lead Changes: 7
• Times Tied: 10

• Arena: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
• Officials: #14 Ed Malloy, #60 James Williams, #65 Sean Wright
• Attendance: 15098
• Duration: 2:04