Passing the Bucks
After wrapping up a perfect mark on their three-game homestand, the red-hot Cavs finally hit the road for three – trying to extend their win streak to six when they travel to Milwaukee to face the shorthanded Bucks on Saturday night.
J.B. Bickerstaff’s surprising young squad made it nine of their last 11 with Wednesday night’s demolition of the Rockets at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. In the lopsided win over a depleted Houston squad, the Cavaliers did what they had to do – putting the pedal down early, leading by 31 at intermission as by as many as 45 in the second half.
In Cleveland’s recent run, they’ve beaten all five teams by double-figures, winning by an average of exactly 20.0 points per.
On Wednesday night, the Cavs were outstanding on both ends – shooting 56 percent from the floor, including 45 percent (18-of-40) from long-range. The East’s stingiest scoring defense also held Houston to just 39 percent from the field, just 5-of-29 from beyond the arc.
Darius Garland led Cleveland with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-6 from deep, and Isaac Okoro stayed hot, finishing with 20 points in just 22 minutes of action, going 7-of-9 from the floor, including a perfect 3-of-3 from long-distance.
But Okoro – who’d averaged 18.5 on 70 percent shooting from the floor, 59 percent from deep over his last four games – will miss Saturday’s showdown after being placed under the league’s health and safety protocols on Thursday.
The Bucks come into tonight’s contest as a team ravaged by both the health and safety protocols and regular injuries – fielding just nine players in Friday night’s overtime loss to the Pelicans.
After beating the Pacers on Wednesday night, the Bucks couldn’t hold off New Orleans on Friday – despite a valiant 40-point effort from Jrue Holiday, who canned 18 shots but just a single three-pointer in the loss.
Grayson Allen canned seven triples to finish with 25 points and little-used second-year forward Jordan Nwora doubled-up with 14 points and 13 boards.
The Cavaliers’ three-game pre-Christmas roadie rolls on following Saturday’s meeting in Milwaukee, traveling to Atlanta for the second-half of the back-to-back on Sunday night against Trae Young and the Hawks before wrapping up on Wednesday night in Beantown.
History
Saturday marks the second time this month that the Cavs will face off against the World Champs in Milwaukee, dropping an eight-point decision in their last loss before rolling off six straight. In the recent head-to-head series, the Bucks have taken the last eight games and 10 of the last 11.
Milwaukee leads the overall regular season series, 128-94, and have never faced the Wine & Gold in the postseason.
Connections
Rodney Hood – who arrived from Utah in a four-team Deadline deal in 2018 and played 66 games with the Cavs in parts of two seasons – has come off the bench all season for the Bucks, including a 14-point effort against the Knicks last week and a scoreless appearance in 12 minutes against Cleveland on December 6.
George Hill – who arrived from Sacramento in the same deal – has been in and out of the lineup recently for Milwaukee, dealing with a right knee injury, didn’t play in the meeting with Cleveland, has come off the bench in each of the last two.