The Cavs Report: Game 49 Vs. Milwaukee Bucks
By Zak Kolesar
Byron Scott has taken over as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, they have racked up an embarrassing 21-46 (.313) home record. Like Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert tweeted Friday night, Cavaliers fans deserve better. After suffering a loss of more than 35 points Friday night for the second time in the team’s existence (and the second time this season) at home, Cleveland was left defeated after a 121-84 drumming by the Milwaukee Bucks at Quicken Loans Arena.
Just another ping pong ball in the hopper, right?
Surprisingly the game was relatively close in the early beginnings of the first quarter. Not until s0me Milwaukee Bucks players went on a three-point-shooting tirade in the first half, connecting on eight straight threes at one point. The barrage was lead by Bucks players Ersan Illyasova (2-2), Brandon Jennings (3-6) and Mike Dunleavy (4-5). The Bucks finished an impressive 10-16 (.625) from beyond the arc, but that was to go along with a team field goal percentage of 56.8.
It’s been said a lot lately on Right Down Euclid, but this was by far the Cavaliers worst performance of the season, considering they got outscored on nearly every offensive statistic. Bench performance, which has probably been the weakest area for the Cavaliers in the last couple of weeks, was nonexistent as the Bucks outscored the Cavs bench 43-13. Where is a young team to turn to when their bench isn’t giving their starters sufficient time to rest and recuperate?
Cavaliers forward/center Tristan Thompson, who recored his sixth double-double Friday night, and point guard Kyrie Irving, who left in the fourth quarter with a right-shoulder injury, were once again the only sign of offensive life for Cleveland. Thompson brought in nine offensive boards, although his free throw shooting can still see improvement as he missed four of his seven attempts. A good shooting day (6-11) overshadowed his failings from the charity stripe. Irving, who’s injury will be addressed in a later post, scored 29 points and set a rookie record with a perfect 6-6 mark from three-point land. If Irving’s injury keeps him out of multiple games, the ugly losses are just going to keep piling up.
The Cavaliers also extended some streaks Friday night, shooting 40 percent or less from the field for the fifth game in a row. That’s a strong indication of how many of those games that Cleveland has lost when shooting 40 percent or lower. A six-game skid, five if you’re just counting home games, has put the Cavaliers squad at an all-time low by matching their longest losing streak of the season. A season-low 10 points in the fourth quarter says it all for Cavaliers fans. This is the second-worst stretch of losing games that the Cavs have been on since the infamous 26-game losing streak last season.
I’m not afraid to say that the players that are on the Cavaliers roster know would lose a virtual matchup between the Cavs roster last year during the record-breaking streak.
The Cavaliers will be traveling to New York to take on the Knicks Saturday night. Tip-off is at 7:30 at Madison Square Garden.