Evan Mobley (38 points) paced the Bucks

The Cavaliers will be eager to redeem themselves after the previous day’s loss. Facing Milwaukee, the match was tight but the locals achieved their goals, thanks in particular to an imperial Evan Mobley.

Inspired by the triumphant blow of a very small Warriors, the Bucks attacked the game with their feet on the floor, with a furious Bobby Portis to put his team in the lead (6-13). Without panicking, Cleveland went on an 11-2 run capped by Jarrett Allen’s dunk to get back in front (19-18) before passing the second.

So with a 19-5 at this time Evan Mobley’s authoritarian dunk finished Cleveland regained the hair of the animal (42-31). Milwaukee kept the comeback going before the break, thanks to their Holiday-Portis-Lopez trio and a final 3-pointer from Pat Connaughton to take it to -3 (50-47).

Despite Darius Garland’s activity, scoring or passing and the long-range missiles of Isaac Okoro, Caris LeVert and Kevin Love, the locals struggled to get rid of Mike Budenholzer’s troops. The Holiday-Lopez tandem maintained the pressure, and George Hill’s two shots kept everyone under pressure 12 minutes from time (86-81). Especially when Pat Connaughton then Joe Ingles started the last act with two 3-point baskets each (95-95)!

Cleveland scored six baskets from Evan Mobley in the first five minutes to stay on course (99-95). Through Darius Garland, the interior thus allowed the locals to drive the point home by managing to put Milwaukee ten lengths less than four minutes from the end (107-97). After Darius Garland, Caris LeVert put Evan Mobley into orbit one last time to secure the victory, the twentieth of the season at home (114-102).

WHAT YOU SHOULD REMEMBER

– Milwaukee is playing it. Despite the absences of Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks are showing impressive collective spirit. Around Jrue Holiday, Mike Budenholzer managed to take advantage of the characteristics of each of his “role-players”, which led to giving a little more than usual. While the meeting could have been a correction midway through the second quarter, Milwaukee hung on and the two teams were still tied with 8 minutes to go. Without the imperious Evan Mobley, the equation might not be so simple for the Cavs.

– The rebound battle. Facing the B team of the Warriors the previous day, the Cavs were eaten in the rebound (45 shots to 35), an affront to JB Bickerstaff and his talent and compact racket. The presence of Brook Lopez, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Kevin Love corrected the situation to help Cleveland win the battle for the rebound in addition to protecting their racket well.

TOPS/FLOPS

✅ Evan Mobley. A good job improving his start in the final quarter allowed him to break his career record. The advantage to him is that he is able to be productive with crumbs, without weighing more on the organization of the offensive game. He can change the situation with an offensive rebound or after a complex possession, a very important plus for Cleveland.

✅ Darius Garland. “Another day at the office” for the Cavs’ point guard who accurately did the job to finish with 21 points, 10 assists, a +/- of +19 and only one lost ball, a detail that is important when we have a lot creative. responsibilities as it did with the loss of Donovan Mitchell.

✅⛔️ The Holiday-Portis duo. It’s hard to blame the Bucks for anything in this very complicated context. Jrue Holiday was a constant benchmark for his team, finishing with 28 points and 10 assists, a sign of his activity in this match. On the other hand, he missed almost everything in the last act, apart from two throws. His six lost balls also hurt his overall performance quite a bit. The same goes for the interior which started with a bang and showed itself to be faultless for three quarters of the match, although it lost its accuracy after the break. Almost none in the final quarter, when Milwaukee needed help from him.

THE FOLLOWING

Cleveland (29-19): Cavs will be at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday (1:30 am) to challenge the Knicks

Milwaukee (29-17): The Bucks are at Detroit this Monday night (1:30 am).