Milwaukee vs. Cleveland: Bucks Snooze Past the Cavs, 108-92

In what was a very enthusiastic atmosphere (I kid, I kid), the Bucks quickly leapt out to a 31-18 lead. Without Giannis, Eric Bledsoe and Sterling Brown proved to be the ignition early on. Cleveland wouldn’t make it much of a competition the rest of the first half, with the Bucks building up an 18 point advantage, 59-41.

From there, the Bucks would never look back. That’s literally all I need to type in regards to the rest of the game summary. If I really wanted to, I could end the Extended Recap right here. However, I’ll keep the insight going a littleeeee further due to contract agreements with SB Nation.

For the Bucks, Eric Bledsoe led the charge in the stat sheet, finishing with 20 points. Malcolm Brogdon mixed in 18 points and Khris Middleton poured in 16 of his own. Sterling Brown contributed 12 off the bench.

Three Observations

This game was the most boring game I’ve ever covered.

I know this was the case for the rest of the media, and I’m sure it was the case for all of you who were watching at home. From the point where we all became aware that Giannis was going to be out (sore neck, lol), everybody knew this game would drag on.

Joe, one of the in-arena hosts with the loud voice, couldn’t even get the fans going at tip-off. That’s how lethargic this crowd was. Also, I suppose it could be worse:

It was refreshing to see the Bucks not play down to their opponent.

This has always been a common theme for Bucks fans. It doesn’t really matter who the coach is — it always seems to happen. However, I’m willing to accept it more this season. Good teams lose to bad teams in this league. It happens. That’s life in the NBA. You have to be willing to accept it. Thankfully, that didn’t happen last night and had it did, I think #BucksTwitter would’ve imploded on itself. For the sake of our crazy community, I’m glad that didn’t happen. That wouldn’t have been an ideal way to send the team off on a three-game road trip.

The rest of the team stepped up with Giannis out.

As I said before, when it was announced that Antetokounmpo would miss this game, all of the air was let out of the balloon. Granted, the Bucks were still positioned to obliterate Cleveland, but it’s one thing to say that on paper vs. actually seeing the results. Thankfully, that did happen, and it happened due to consistent scoring from all corners of the lineup. Every starter but Ersan tallied double-digit points, and Sterling Brown chipped in with double-digits off the bench. Nobody stood out, but rather, everybody contributed. Very nice to see.

Bonus Bucks Bits

• This was the fourth back-to-back this season for Milwaukee. They only have nine more this season. It’s always good to see a team contribute well after a game the previous day, whomever the team might be. Like I said before, this is the NBA. Something crazy can happen every night.
• Man, how about Brook Lopez’s performance? In just under 25 minutes played, he netted a +32 RPM. I don’t care if that’s against the lowly Cavs, that’s just plain impressive. His total statistics included 5-of-9 from the floor, 2-of-5 from deep, and 12 points. He earned that RPM while only getting four rebounds. You don’t see that every day.
• George Hill and Jason Smith made their Bucks debut last night. Hill was out on the floor for about 13 minutes and scored his first basket with Milwaukee on a nice and-1 off the glass. Jason Smith was held scoreless and played just under five minutes. It’ll be interesting to see how Bud plugs them into his system moving forward. I’d imagine we’d see more Hill depending on Pat Connaughton’s availability.
• Apparently the bank is open late on Tuesday’s for DJ Wilson. Early on in this one, he clanked home a 3-pointer off the glass. On the night, he scored seven points in 13:09 played. Oh, and he did this, which set the siren off in Fiserv Forum:

• It’s always nice to see Sterling Brown make solid contributions. I’m still adamant that he can help this team moving forward, and I’m sure many of you are as well. His eight rebounds were just as impressive as his 12 points and that breakaway dunk he led:

• Okay, that’s all my brain can handle for this game. NO MORE!