Two of the NBA’s most surprising teams — for very different reasons, met up for a Central Division showdown in Cleveland on Tuesday night, but unfortunately for Jason Kidd’s Milwaukee Bucks they caught the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Big Three on an uptick.

The upstart Bucks gave the Cavs, who stumbled out of the gate this season amid high expectations all they could handle. But the continued strong play of Milwaukee, behind outstanding efforts from Brandon Knight and Jabari Parker wasn’t enough to overcome Cleveland’s trio of LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, who came through with perhaps their best collective effort since coming together, combining for 81 points, 17 rebounds and 16 assists as the Cavs edged the Bucks, 111-108.

Afterward, Jason noted that it was only a matter of time before the Cavaliers came together and met the lofty expectations placed on them, and he was proud of the effort of his own team against a Cleveland team that was at its best.

“When you look at those changes it takes time,” Jason said. “82 games to figure each other out and work out the kinks. But when you talk about Kevin Love being a star in Minnesota it takes a little time, because if you take a look at Irving and LeBron, they were stars on their teams. They’re starting to play well now.”

Milwaukee Bucks v Cleveland Cavaliers

Parker countered with the best statistical game of his rookie season, tallying 22 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Knight added 27 points, eight dimes, six boards and three steals—but it all wasn’t quite enough. LeBron scored 26 while dishing out 10 assists; Love scored 27 and nabbed 10 rebounds; and Irving scored a game-high 28 with six assists.

As a group, the Cavs shot 53.4 percent from the field and earned high praise from Coach Kidd after the contest.

“Have to give them credit, they kept playing and they’re a veteran group,” Jason explained. “They made plays. We couldn’t get a rebound…they played zone there a couple times, we had some good looks—just couldn’t knock them down.”

Milwaukee Bucks v Cleveland Cavaliers

In the early going, it was Love’s verstaility that gave Milwaukee the most difficulty. The stretch big man hit three trifectas in the first quarter, including a 25-footer at the end of the first frame that gave Cleveland a seven-point lead, 30-23.

“They’ve got a lot of talent; someone is going to score the ball,” J-Kidd said. “Kevin was going. Guys started to make the adjustment of getting him off the three-point line because he’s shooting the ball extremely well. We just tried not to give him a second look at it because that’s when he can hurt you.”

 

The Cavs only made six 3-pointers on the evening, but it was their offensive efficiency that was hard to stop.

It was quite the contrary for J-Kidd’s ball club. In most cases, the team that shoots more wins; but unfortunately that wasn’t the circumstance for the Bucks on Tuesday night. Milwaukee took 92 shots, nearly 20 more attempts than the Cavs, but connected on just 48.9 percent of those attempts. Cleveland countered the Bucks volume with an uncanny ability to get to the free throw line, which more than made the difference in the box score.

The Cavs shot 38 free throws, making 27 of them; while the Bucks only made 13 trips to the line, and converted 11.

However, despite the discrepancies in efficiency, the Bucks hung tight with the Cavs throughout, led by the rookie phenom Parker, who showed his superstar potential against the largest cast of stars in the NBA.

After a modest opening frame, the rookie broke out in the second quarter and had perhaps the highlight of the night when he drove baseline and threw down a reverse slam with his left hand to tie the game 40-40.

Parker shot 11-of-15 from the field, but Coach Kidd, who has seen his budding star mature quickly over the course of the season’s first 19 games wasn’t ready to proclaim Tuesday as the rookie’s “best game” of the young season.

“I’m not going to go through the whole year and say that this was his best game,” Jason told reporters of Parker’s performance. “He played very well, and he’s gotten better. He’s playing at a very high level and I think it’s a comfort level, he’s starting to deliver.”

The No. 2 overall pick went 4-of-4 for eight points in the second, while Ersan Ilyasova added nine. As a whole, the Bucks poured on 31 points in the second period while holding the Cavaliers down to just 22 thanks in part to a Milwaukee defense that forced six turnovers. As a result, it was the Bucks who took a 54-52 lead into halftime.

After notching nine points in the first half, Knight heated up in the second. He doubled his point total in the third quarter alone, all nine coming from beyond the arc. Two came off setups by Giannis Antetokounmpo—who finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists—and the third was served up by Parker.

But the Bucks’ young point guard was matched nearly point-for-point by his counterpart Kyrie Irving, who scored 10 of his own in the third. Led by their dueling point men, the two squads combined to go 20-of-34 in the frame.

While Irving and Knight put on a point guard clinic, one of the league’s all-time greats at the position, Jason marveled at their incredible display of efficiency.

“Two young talented point guards running their teams trying to find a way to help their team win,” he said.

Milwaukee Bucks v Cleveland Cavaliers

As the teams battled back and forth through 12 ties and 10 lead changes, the key adjustment came from the Cavaliers, who gave the Bucks multiple defensive looks, including prolonged stages of a zone defense, challenging Milwaukee to shoot from the perimeter.

That challenge was a tough one to overcome for the Bucks who simply couldn’t make shots down the stretch. Adding to the challenge was the fact that Ilyasova, who has been a consistent threat from the perimeter this season, was forced to sit out the second half of the game after sustaining a nasal fracture.

“

[Ilyasova’s absence] hurt us especially when they went zone,” Coach Kidd explained. “We just didn’t have anyone that could knock down an open shot for us. We did have some great looks, but we are probably going to see zone tomorrow [against Dallas]. We have to be confident when we shoot the ball.”

The two squads entered the final frame tied at 79, but the Bucks were forced to work through the final 12 minutes without Ilyasova.

Milwaukee’s young trio of Knight, Parker and Antetokounmpo did their best to shoulder the load, combining for 21 points, but they couldn’t quite keep up with the pressure applied by James.

Down the stretch LeBron continued to attack the rim which put him at the line 12 times in the last two minutes of regulation. James converted nine of those free throws, putting the game out of reach.

Though his squad ultimately failed to hold onto a game they had an opportunity to win, Jason looked at the loss as a chance for his young Bucks to grow and improve, because he knows they’ll be in similar situations as the season rolls on.

“For us this is a good learning experience,” Jason said. “Learning that when we get open shots we have to knock them down. But on the road we gave ourselves a chance to win, so we have to learn from this game.”

NEXT UP

The Bucks (10-9) will have to exercise short-term memory as they head home to host a very talented Dallas Mavericks (14-5) team on Wednesday night at BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Jason’s ex-teammate Tyson Chandler, who was on the Mavericks when J-Kidd won his NBA title, is back in Dallas attempting to help Dirk Nowitzki and company to another title run. Dallas also acquired big-time shooter and wingman, Chandler Parsons from Houston over the summer. The Mavs lead the league in scoring, marking an average of 110.3 points per game this season.

Like Milwaukee, Dallas will be on the second night of a back-to-back after topping the Bulls 132-129 in double overtime on Tuesday night in Chicago.

Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Wisconsin.

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