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Key: Home Cookin'
The Cavaliers return home after their longest road trip of the season, but they’re still a long way from being whole as they head into the final stretch of the regular season.
On Monday morning, the team announced that Head Coach Tyronn Lue will be taking a leave of absence to tend to his recurring health problems. Coach Lue was forced to spend the second half of Saturday night’s contest in Chicago in the locker room – an issue that he’s struggled with throughout the season. He’ll spend the next few weeks trying to get healthy for the Wine & Gold’s Playoff push.
With Larry Drew guiding the team in Saturday’s second half, Cleveland held off a Bulls rally in the closing moments to pull off the season sweep of Chicago and close out the trip with an even 3-3 mark.
Drew will coach the squad for the time being – beginning with the team he was last a head coach for -- the Milwaukee Bucks, who come to The Q having won three of their last four, including a Saturday night squeaker over Atlanta.
The Cavs have had their way with the Bucks of late – dropping them in 10 of the last 13 meetings, including five straight at The Q. The question on Monday is whether they can continue that trend as a team of walking wounded.
Key: Freak Show
With the Cavaliers still struggling to get healthy, the Bucks – currently 7th in the Eastern Conference Playoff picture – will try to achieve something they haven’t since the 2013-14 season: come out at least even in the four-game season series against Cleveland.
Leading that charge, as always, will be their young superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Once again this season, the Greek Freak is putting up big numbers – leading Milwaukee in scoring (27.4), rebounding (10.1) and assists (4.8).
In the Bucks’ recent win over Atlanta, the Freak finished with 33 points, 12 boards, seven helpers, four steals and a pair of blocks – his second straight outing of at least 30/10/5 and his 12th 30-point/10-rebound game of the season. The 23-year-old forward has already notched 22 games of at least 30 points this season – trailing only all-time Bucks, Marques Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in that category.
Antetokounmpo has had some big games against Cleveland this campaign – including a 40-point outburst in a November 7 loss at The Q – and is averaging 33.7 points, 10.0 boards, and 6.3 assists while shooting a gaudy 68 percent from the floor.
Key: Homecoming King
One way to slow down the Greek Freak is to keep him busy on the defensive end. And there isn’t a player in the Association who can keep a defender busier than Cleveland’s Numeral 23.
On Saturday night, the 33-year-old King continued his epic late-season run – willing the Wine & Gold to the victory on Saturday night in Chicago. In that contest, LeBron James tallied his 15th triple-double of the season and 70th of his future Hall of Fame career – netting a team-high 33 points on 15-for-26 shooting, adding 13 boards, 12 assists and a pair of blocks in the win. His 15 triple-doubles are good for 2nd-best in the league this season.
The four-time MVP has been on an absolute tear since early February – averaging a trifecta over his last 17 games – posting 29.6 points, 10.6 boards and 10.2 assists per, shooting 55 percent from the floor and 41 percent from long-range over that stretch.
Monday will mark LeBron’s 55th career regular season meeting against Milwaukee (with a 39-15 mark so far). Against the Bucks this season, James is averaging 31.0 ppg through the first three meetings – including a 39-point performance in Cleveland’s late December loss at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Key: Shooting Guards
After flying home due to personal reasons and missing Saturday’s game against his former squad, Kyle Korver – who, like LeBron, hadn’t missed a game all season – could return to the lineup on Monday night at The Q.
The veteran sharpshooter (as well as forward Kevin Love) are both listed as questionable for the Central Division matchup.
Before taking a brief leave, Korver had been inserted into the starting lineup and was paying immediate dividends. Adding in last Sunday’s loss to the Lakers, Korver is shooting .654 from the floor (17-of-26) and .632 (12-of-19) from long-range over his last three outings.
JR Smith, who dropped 20 points on the Bucks in their lone visit to The Q this season, will be available if Korver is unable to go.
Both players will have to deal with Milwaukee’s second-leading scorer, Khris Middleton, who’s having his best season as a pro in his sixth year out of Texas A&M. And Middleton comes to Cleveland on a heater – averaging 24.8 ppg over his last five, topping the 20-point plateau in each of those contests, including a 30-point effort against the Knicks.
After being held to just eight points in the first meeting against Cleveland, Middleton has doubled-up in each of the last two – averaging 19.0 points and 10.5 assists in the split.
Key: Young Guns
As the Cavaliers continue to battle the injury bug, the squad’s starting lineup has been a moving target for some time.
Ante Zizic, for example, piled up 46 DNP-CDs before being forced into the rotation on March 5 against Detroit. But since he’s begun being force-fed minutes, the 21-year-old big man from Croatia has been very good – notching double-figures in three of his last four outings.
Dating back to that March 5 win over the Pistons, Zizic has been almost automatic around the rim – going 26-for-32 (.813) from the floor over that span. In Saturday night’s victory over the Bulls, the sole remaining player from this summer’s blockbuster deal with Boston finished with 14 points and six boards, going 7-of-9 from the floor in just his second career start.
Even as the Cavaliers have mixed up their starting lineup, Jordan Clarkson has for the most part remained with the second unit and comes into Monday’s contest as the league’s second-leading scorer off the bench.
The fourth-year guard from Missouri has notched double-figures in 12 of his 15 outings as a Cavalier – including a 19-point performance in Saturday night’s much-needed win over the Bulls, completing a huge four-point play in the closing minutes to secure the win in the trip finale.