The young Milwaukee Bucks put together an impressive upset bid on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but ultimately, Jason Kidd’s squad fell just short against the veteran Cavs.
Milwaukee held a 7-point lead early in the second quarter and only trailed by one with 5:11 left in the game. However, but the Cavs answered with an 11-0 run, all points scored or assisted by LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Jason wasn’t surprised that the defending NBA champions made a run, and he spoke about what the Bucks must do in those late-game situations going forward.
“We expect they’re going to do that,” Coach Kidd said of James and Irving. “On the offensive end, we’ve got to be patient. We took some bad shots. The way we got in the game and had the lead was by sharing the ball.”
The Bucks were without Khris Middleton and lost another key contributor early in the game. Michael Beasley has stepped up immensely for Coach Kidd since Jabari Parker’s injury, but Beasly put the Bucks through a scare when he was helped off the court after suffering a knee injury in the second quarter.
“He was going,” Kidd said. “When you talk about Jabari being out, Beasley has taken full advantage of that opportunity.”
Fortunately for Kidd and the Bucks, the injury was labeled just a hyperextension, and the MRI didn’t reveal any serious structural damage. He’s still expected to miss at least three games.
“We’ll see how he is,” Kidd said. “Hopefully it’s not bad where he can get back because he’s playing at a very high level for us.”
Rookie Malcolm Brogdon was the leading scorer for the Bucks with 20 points in 31 minutes off the bench. The Cleveland defense honed in on Giannis Antetokounmpo, through Milwaukee’s All-Star nearly came through with a triple-double with nine points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
Even without Middleton and Beasley, and with Antetokounmpo blanketed, the team nearly came together to pull off the upset bid.
Up next, the Bucks will host the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.
