Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, right, passes the ball around Milwaukee Bucks guard Andre Jackson Jr. through the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
CLEVELAND— Donovan Mitchell had 31 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers took advantage of Milwaukee being without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo to increase their winning streak to a season-best six games by pounding the Bucks 135-95 within the NBA Wednesday night.
Antetokounmpo sat with a bruised right shoulder, an injury that kept him out of the lineup for the primary time in 29 games — the second longest streak of his profession. The 2-time MVP shouldn’t be expected to be out for an prolonged period.
The Bucks had higher hope not.
The Cavaliers, who’ve made a surprising push despite being without two starters, held Milwaukee to 2 points in the primary six minutes and a season-low for a game.
“Our defense, that’s where it began,” said Cleveland center Jarrett Allen. “We actually set the tone.”
Georges Niang made 13 of 14 shots and added a career-high 33 points — 20 in the primary half — for the Cavaliers, who improved to 11-3 since losing Darius Garland (broken jaw) and Evan Mobley (knee surgery) with injuries last month.
Donovan Mitchell and Georges Niang poured in immense buckets to power the Cavs to their Sixth-straight win!
Mitchell: 31 PTS | 7 AST | 4 3PM
Niang: 33 PTS | 5 REB | 5 3PM pic.twitter.com/zKJ6F9MYXw— NBA (@NBA) January 18, 2024
Allen added 21 points and 13 rebounds — his tenth straight double-double — for Cleveland, which opened a 22-2 lead and never looked back.
On an evening when the Bucks were missing Antetokounmpo’s presence along along with his 31 points and needed someone to step up, nobody did.
Damian Lillard, who hit a 3-pointer on the extra time buzzer to beat Sacramento on Sunday, led Milwaukee with 17 points on just 7 of 20 shooting. Khris Middleton had two points, going 1 of 10 from the sector.
“Tough night collectively, but we’ve got to seek out the energy from the jump, especially being short-handed,” Bucks coach Adrian Griffin said. ”You’ve gotten to learn from this because you possibly can’t allow this to occur again, especially firstly of the sport.
“Before we looked up, we were down 20. We might literally come down and just shoot.”
The injuries to Garland and Mobley threatened to derail Cleveland’s season. Nonetheless, the alternative has happened because the Cavs have played higher at each ends without them and moved among the many Eastern Conference’s top teams.
“At that cut-off date, you’ve got a call to make: You quit otherwise you fight,” said Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “And I never expected this group of fellows to quit. The fight got here and the outcomes have been what they’ve been.”
Any thought Milwaukee had of staging a comeback resulted in the second quarter, when Niang made 4 3-pointers, his last giving the Cavs a 55-30 lead.
During a timeout while Niang was on his tear, the Cavaliers showed a video tracing his journey to the NBA on the sector’s scoreboard.
“I learned quite a bit about him today on the Jumbotron — and on the court,” Allen cracked. “Two thousand plus points in highschool, and that’s tough to do. He really showed why he had that many points in highschool tonight.”
Cleveland’s lead swelled to 40 within the third quarter before Griffin pulled his starters and cleared his bench, bringing in seldom used Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Giannis’ younger brother.
It was the primary of three games between the Bucks and Cavs in nine days. They’ll play on Jan. 24 and Jan. 26 in Milwaukee.
NEXT SCHEDULE
Bucks: At Detroit on Saturday.
Cavaliers: At Atlanta on Saturday.
