2024-25 Season | Game #64 | Cavs @ Bucks | March 9, 2025 | 8:00 p.m. ESPN

KilgoreTrout said:
Not YET. Pacers and Bucks can still get to 55 wins. A couple more days…
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Both the Pacers and Bucks cannot get to 55 wins, because they play each other twice more. At best, only one of them can get to 55.

If the Cavs lost every game from here on out, the worst they could finish is 54-28 and the 4th seed, even if the Bucks and Pacers won every game from here on out and split the pair against each other.
 
  • It’s a bit ironic that 12 of the first 15 points to start the second quarter came from Cavs starters but was within the Cavs bench bunch. Kenny did not go back to the original starting lineup, but the combination of starters and bench players ended the quarter with a +8.
  • Meanwhile, the Bucks starters were a -1 in nearly six minutes in the quarter.
  • As has been the case for most of the year, the Cavs bench has helped extend leads and make the difference in most games. Without Mitchell on the floor the Cavs were still a +10; without Garland, they were a +1. Without Giannis on the floor the Bucks were a +1 and without Lillard they were a -4. Teams that can win the battle without their best players on the floor are that much more difficult to defeat – not only does it force more on the team’s best players when they’re on the floor, but it doesn’t let their coach get them as much rest as maybe they want to.
  • For the game, Mitchell and Garland combined for 58ish minutes while Giannis and Lillard for 68ish minutes. Stretch that out over the course of a long series, and into the fourth quarter, and that difference starts to build.
 
Much better outing. I like how Okoro is being used right now that the Cavs have all their wings. Really frustrating to see the DG and Donovan shooting being so bad (at least Donovan got a timely 3 off), it isn't like they didn't have amazing looks generated. If anything, the greatness of this offense was on display despite that. A lot of extra passes, and quick decision passes. My favorite was JA looking like he was going for his signature midrange before instantly whipping the ball over to Dean Wade for a three.

Defensively it was kind of hilarious to see the frustration of Giannis whenever he had to deal with a combo of players guarding him including Mobley. I think Okoro did a good job keeping Dame out of those Logo and stepback 3s. Did not enjoy all that unethical basketball they were playing to get fouls. A couple of times I was actually applauding the refs for putting fouls on the floor. That should happen more often in response to the "James Harden Spam Move".
 
A lot of comments on how poorly the cavs played,... but the bucks have been held to 100 points or less only a four times this season. One of which, neither Gianis, nor Lillard, nor Kuzma played (OKC). The cavs won this game by playing defense for three quarters. That's the point..
 
"Just watching their trust over ours offensively will jump off the screen when our guys watch it," Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. "I think it's a good teacher for us.

Game 1 (against the Cavs) it was us doing all those things. We lost in a heartbreaking game, but that's who we have to be in a game against them. Because they crossed over that line, you just see a trust all game. We have not made that transition, and that's where we have to go."
 
"We were playing side-to-side," said Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had a game-high 30 points. "Wasn't playing downhill.

"That's pretty much it. I feel like we had a lot of opportunity to play one-on-one. But we came in with the mind-set to move the ball side to side. Get everybody involved. I think at times we were overthinking.

"Sometimes it's great to pass the ball to one another. Sometimes you got to pass the ball to the rim, in my opinion."
 
Both Antetokounmpo and Kyle Kuzma also pointed to the Bucks' three-point attempts. Milwaukee hoisted 31 threes, while the Cavaliers put up 47.

"We're one of the best shooting teams in the league," Kuzma said. "We should be shooting around 40 a night.

"Just playing that type of basketball. Playing free. I think tonight we just kind of let them dictate what we wanted to do."

Antetokounmpo echoed the same theme.

"We got to shoot 30, 35, 40 (three-pointers)," Antetokounmpo said. "The only way that happens is by trusting what you built, the game plan.

"Believe in your habits and just play free. Good things are going to happen. Just play free. Play with joy."
 
"Let our heads down a little bit," Kuzma said. "I think how we played on offense, we played on our heels a little bit.

"Not playing aggressive. Not being decisive. A little bit of overthinking. We were thinking about offense, this is a two-way sport, going back on defense. They had us running and attacking closeouts all night and I think that this is a pretty good lesson for us. Something that we kind of needed to play against and see.

"Because you see how dangerous it is. They're an unbelievable ballclub, but I wouldn't say that they're that much more talented than us or that much more athletic than us."
 
CleveRocks said:
A lot of comments on how poorly the cavs played,... but the bucks have been held to 100 points or less only a four times this season. One of which, neither Gianis, nor Lillard, nor Kuzma played (OKC). The cavs won this game by playing defense for three quarters. That's the point..
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Mobley, Dean, Hunter, Ice and Don can choke an offense to death.

We gutted the deer offense when that crew or the DG Allen Dean Okoro Ice group.

The offense got us to 54-10 and a highly likely #1 seed but we'll need excellent defense in the later playoff rounds to prevail.

I love the 10 deep rotation. We can grind down opponents with numbers and quality and team play on both ends.
 
shoes22 said:
Both the Pacers and Bucks cannot get to 55 wins, because they play each other twice more. At best, only one of them can get to 55.

If the Cavs lost every game from here on out, the worst they could finish is 54-28 and the 4th seed, even if the Bucks and Pacers won every game from here on out and split the pair against each other.
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What about if the Pacers, Bucks, and Cavs end up at 54-28. Are you sure we don’t finish 3rd in that tiebreaker?
 
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