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| (Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer) |
The Cleveland Cavaliers extended their winning streak to four, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks 111-108.
Trailing by double digits in the middle of the third quarter, the Cavaliers looked all out of sorts on both ends of the court; the ball was stopped on offense and were giving up plenty of open looks to the Bucks on defense.
Two guys specifically were tough for the Cavaliers: guard Brandon Knight and rookie Jabari Parker. In tonight's game, they each finished with 20-plus points, with Parker showing glimpses of the potential that has been placed on him over the last two years. When the Bucks were building their lead in the third quarter, Parker showed plenty of flash, including a baseline dunk where he blew past Kevin Love and finished with his off-hand.
Previous games would dictate a loss for the Cavaliers. However, this game would not end as those ones did, and it was led by a guy has had more DNP's than 3-pointers this season.
Mike Miller, who hasn't played in the last three games, got his first minutes of the night with 6:45 left in the third quarter with the Cavaliers trailing by nine. After a LeBron James turnover with the Cavaliers trailing by 11, the Bucks came down and had chance to extend their lead, but couldn't capitalize after Larry Sanders missed a wide open dunk. Kyrie Irving would rebound the miss and outlet the pass to Miller, who would pull-up and nail 3-pointer off the break. Following that make, Irving would get a steal on the following Bucks possession and finish an and-one on the break to cut the deficit to five.
By the end of the third, the game would be tied heading into the final quarter, and Miller's work would not be finished.
With the game tied at 89 in the middle of the fourth, Miller was matched up on Giannis Antetokounmpo, also known as the Greek Freak for his unnatural size and length. A mismatch by all accounts, Antetokounmpo drove to the basket against Miller, expecting to get an easy bucket against the bad defense of Miller. However, Miller did what no one would expect: he blocked the 6-11 guard's shot, grabbed the loose ball and threw it out to Irving, who would finish at the other end with another and-one, giving the Cavaliers a 92-89 lead with just under four minutes left in the game. Just under a minute later, Miller would hit his second 3-pointer of the game, giving the Cavaliers a six-point lead that they would not relinquish.
Miller would finish the game with six points, seven rebounds and one huge block.
You may say that Kevin Love (27 points and 10 rebounds) or Irving had the better games (28 points and 6 assists), but it was Miller that was the difference in the game. Last year (and even so far this year) this game would have been lost. Miller has changed the mindset of many of the Cavaliers who have endured losing for almost three years.
He's been in this spot before. He's hit big shots in multiple playoff games, helping the Miami Heat win two NBA championships. With a Cavaliers bench that has been the worst in the league, his spark tonight was exactly what Cleveland needed in order to extend their winning streak to four.
Three Things:
1. Kyrie has been the Cavaliers best player this season.
It's hard to argue just how good Irving has looked this entire season. Coming into tonight's game, the fourth-year guard has averaged 21.1 points, 5.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game, all while shooting a career-high 46.7 percent from the field. Tonight was no different, scoring 28 points (10-of-15 shooting) and dishing out six assists. No one expected Irving to look this good, this early, but that appears to be the case. But it's not just his offense that's been impressive, his defense has been dramatically different from what he had been doing in his first three years. LeBron has looked great, but not in every game. If there is anyone on the Cavaliers who shields virtually no blame for their start to their season, that one would be Kyrie Irving.
2. The Bucks are NOT bad.
Casual NBA fans see the Milwaukee Bucks as an easy win for their team, considering they won a whopping 19 games last year, and outside of drafting Jabari Parker, didn't get much better this year. Well, they didn't add much in free agency, but they did gain something they didn't have last year: health. Last year, Larry Sanders and Ersan Ilyasova missed a combined 97 games, a big part of why they were so bad. This year, they both have played in every game, and have been a big factor in the Bucks winning ways. Combine that with Giannis Antetokounmpo's growth and Parker's ability to be a star, like he showed tonight, you'll see they're not as bad many think they are, and could sneak into the playoffs at the end of the year.
3. The bench.
Outside of Mike Miller and Tristan Thompson, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
Statline of the night:
Kyrie Irving - 27 points, 6 assists, 1 turnover, 10-of-15 shooting.
Another game, another solid outing from Kyrie Irving. For the ninth time in 11 games, Irving scored 20 points, and once again played solid defense. Although he let Brandon Knight scored 27 points on him, he made a key steal with the Cavaliers trailing and nearly cut the lead in half at the other end. Is he the Cavaliers MVP so far? Hard to go against him.
What's next:
Dec. 4, on the road against the New York Knicks, 8 p.m.
