Milwaukee Bucks @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Friday, December 29, 2023 at 7:30 PM ET
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH | Game ID: 22300433
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
CLE 37 22 21 31 111MIL 31 21 40 27 119
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Giannis Antetokounmpo scores 34, leads Bucks to a 119-111 win over the Cavaliers
CLEVELAND -- — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points and 16 rebounds, Damian Lillard scored 24 of his 31 points in the second half, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 119-111 on Friday night.
Antetokounmpo and Lillard each scored 14 points in the pivotal third quarter when Milwaukee outscored Cleveland 40-21 to erase a 15-point deficit and take the lead for good. The Bucks have the third-best record in the NBA at 24-8.
“When you put the basketball in the hands of your two best players, you’re going to get good results,” Antetokounmpo said. “If you want to double-team Dame, then I’m going to be open to make a play or get the ball to my teammates.”
Donovan Mitchell had 34 points, six rebounds and nine assists for Cleveland after missing four games with an illness. Jarrett Allen scored a career-high 30 points on 15-of-17 shooting and had 12 rebounds and six assists.
Malik Beasley scored 15 points on five 3-pointers and Khris Middleton had 13 points and a season-high 11 assists for Milwaukee. Brook Lopez added nine points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots.
“I thought we were able to break them down inside-out tonight,” said Lillard, who was 11 of 11 from the foul line, all in the second half. “Our team is growing and we’re establishing ourselves. I think it shows in this type of a game.”
Cleveland fell to 5-2 since learning that power forward Evan Mobley (left knee surgery) and point guard Darius Garland (jaw fracture) will be sidelined until February. Undrafted rookie Craig Porter Jr. scored 14 points, playing nine minutes in the fourth quarter.
The Cavaliers shot a season low 14% from 3-point range, missing 37 of 43 attempts. Caris LeVert and Georges Niang each went 0 of 6.
“It was a big point of emphasis to protect the 3-point line because they’ve been playing some really good ball,” Milwaukee coach Adrian Griffin said.
The Bucks, who went 3-1 on a four-game trip, will play just one home game during an eight-game run that ends Jan. 6 in Houston. Key offseason acquisition Lillard is averaging 26.3 points over the last six contests.
“Dame is also a guy who can singlehandedly take over a game,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “You can’t stop Giannis and him, so you have to figure out how to balance your defense. It's a challenge.”
Allen made his first nine shots and scored 18 points in the opening half, helping Cleveland take a 59-53 lead into the break. Antetokounmpo had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists in 19 minutes.
“Man, he’s tough to guard,” Antetokounmpo said of Allen. “His stats have improved so much. When a big guy like that is making jump shots and shooting those hooks over you, there is nothing you can do really to stop him.”
Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam are co-owners of the Bucks.
MIL KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
CLECL C. LeVert
CP C. Porter Jr.
DM D. Mitchell
DW D. Wade
GN G. Niang
IO I. Okoro
JA J. Allen
MS M. Strus
SM S. Merrill
TT T. Thompson
MILAJ A. Jackson Jr.
BL B. Lopez
BP B. Portis
CP C. Payne
DL D. Lillard
GA G. Antetokounmpo
KM K. Middleton
MB M. Beasley
MB M. Beauchamp
PC P. Connaughton
CLE/MIL the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur