In January, the Cavaliers had already beaten the big names. But Brooklyn was then deprived of Kevin Durant, Rudy Gobert’s Jazz. We remember that in December, they had dismissed the Heat, also diminished since Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo were not there, and also the Bucks, but it was team B or even C…
Clearly, Cleveland players lacked a reference match, against a large full team. It was good, Wednesday evening, Milwaukee arrived in Ohio with its best players and its trio Giannis Antetokounmpo – Jrue Holiday – Khris Middleton.
A Different Cleveland Team
“We knew the importance of this match”, explains Cedi Osman at the Plain Dealer. “They are the defending champions, they have a great team. We knew the match would be complicated, but we showed that we were a very good team. “
Not only did the Cavaliers win, but the victory was authoritative (115-99). The defending champions started well, but then the players of JB Bickerstaff took control of the game, without shaking until the end. There will be at least ten points difference for almost the entire second period.
Is this, in some way, a message sent to the Bucks?
“It’s not a message for our opponent, but a message for our players and their ability to be together”, specifies the coach of the Cavaliers. “That’s the message: we play collectively and we play well. The Bucks are a very, very good team, but there, we dominated them. We accept challenges, we don’t run away from anyone. These are just collective efforts. “
The message went well since the defending champions did not fail to pay tribute to the progression and performance of the Cavaliers this season.
“They were brilliant. We were well dominated”, concedes Mike Budenholzer. “It’s not the Cleveland team we’ve known for the past few years,” notes Giannis Antetokounmpo. “They have a great team and we have to respect them more. They are a playoff team and are fighting for the title themselves.“
Since 1998, the Cavaliers have not reached the playoffs without LeBron James
A direct qualification for the playoffs would already be a success for the Cavs, who have not tasted the serious things of spring since 2018 and the departure of LeBron James. They are currently in third place in the Eastern Conference, ahead of Brooklyn, Milwaukee and Philadelphia! You should know that the Cavaliers have not reached the playoffs, without LeBron James in their workforce, since… 1998!
The young Cavaliers and their coach absolutely want to obtain the respect of the league, this place on the podium of the East and this great victory against Giannis Antetokounmpo and company can they finally allow them to change the eyes of other formations?
“If we work, we can beat anyone”, assures Kevin Love, before warning his teammates. “Now we have to do it again, night after night. Because the other teams will now expect us, see us as a very good team. “
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Darius Garland | 42 | 34.9 | 46.4 | 36.0 | 91.3 | 0.5 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 8.2 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 19.7 |
| Jarrett Allen | 40 | 32.7 | 69.5 | 12.5 | 68.4 | 3.4 | 7.6 | 11.0 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 16.2 |
| Collin Sexton | 11 | 28.8 | 45.0 | 24.4 | 74.4 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 3.3 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 16.0 |
| Evan Mobley | 40 | 34.4 | 51.0 | 30.4 | 67.4 | 1.8 | 6.3 | 8.2 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 15.0 |
| Kevin Love | 40 | 21.4 | 43.4 | 40.2 | 87.1 | 1.1 | 6.2 | 7.2 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 13.9 |
| Lauri Markkanen | 38 | 30.2 | 43.6 | 34.2 | 86.3 | 1.1 | 4.2 | 5.3 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 13.6 |
| Ricky Rubio | 34 | 28.5 | 36.3 | 33.9 | 85.4 | 0.4 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 6.6 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 13.1 |
| Cedi Osman | 36 | 22.3 | 42.4 | 35.4 | 65.1 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 10.4 |
| Rajon Rondo | 4 | 20.9 | 46.4 | 47.1 | 83.3 | 0.2 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 9.8 |
| isaac okoro | 33 | 28.4 | 45.4 | 28.3 | 73.4 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 9.2 |
| Malik Newman | 1 | 7.7 | 60.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8.0 |
| lamar stevens | 32 | 15.2 | 47.7 | 32.5 | 64.0 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 5.3 |
| Brandon Goodwin | 9 | 15.1 | 37.3 | 26.7 | 30.0 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 5.0 |
| Dean Wade | 33 | 18.9 | 43.1 | 34.1 | 60.0 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 4.8 |
| justin anderson | 3 | 15.5 | 50.0 | 33.3 | 75.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 4.3 |
| Tre Scott | 2 | 5.7 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 3.0 |
| Dylan Windler | 32 | 10.5 | 44.6 | 39.6 | 77.8 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 2.9 |
| Denzel Valentine | 22 | 9.3 | 37.1 | 40.9 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 2.9 |
| Luke Kornet | 2 | 7.4 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 66.7 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2.0 |
| Kevin Pangos | 20 | 8.0 | 33.3 | 23.1 | 75.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.9 |
| Rj Nembhard | 6 | 7.0 | 45.5 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.8 |
| Ed Davis | 14 | 9.3 | 64.3 | 0.0 | 37.5 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 1.5 |
| Tacko Fall | 11 | 5.3 | 41.7 | 0.0 | 28.6 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.1 |
