Milwaukee Bucks: Grades From Overtime Loss to Cleveland Cavaliers

The Milwaukee Bucks hung tough against the defending champs on Tuesday night, falling to them in overtime 114-108. Which Bucks played the best? Let’s take a look.

Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers were embarrassed on their last visit to The BMO Harris Bradley Center, and as a result, the defending champions came in looking to assert themselves right away on Tuesday.

And for the first quarter or so, it seemed like they would do just that. The Cavaliers hit five of their seven three-point attempts in the first quarter, and jumped out to an early double-digit lead.

The Bucks were able to reel them back in by the halftime break, though, thanks to improved defensive intensity coupled with the Cavaliers’ shooters cooling down a bit.

Of course the Cavaliers did still hit 17 threes for the game, and ended up a +30 from beyond the arc. So “cooling off” is just relative to their torrid start, but the difference was enough to allow the bucks to close the gap.

In the end, the three-point shooting and game closing experience of the Cavaliers was too much for the young Bucks to overcome.

But who did the most in their efforts to win this game? Let’s take a look at how the Bucks players graded for the evening,

Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Starters

Matthew Dellavedova

G, Milwaukee Bucks

B-Matthew Dellavedova did not shoot the ball very well in his second game against his former team, only 3/10 and 2/7 from beyond the arc. But he helped to pester Kyrie Irving into a fairly poor shooting night of his own.

Tony Snell

G, Milwaukee Bucks

B-Tony Snell hit a huge three near the end of regulation to pull the Bucks within two points, which was unquestionably the highlight of his night. Outside of this shot, Snell was pretty quiet in his 40 minutes on the floor, finishing with eight points, four assists and six rebounds. He also did his normal solid job on the defensive end.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

G/F, Milwaukee Bucks

B+Giannis Antetokounmpo struggled to get anything going from the field Tuesday night, hitting only five shots on the night. Yet he was still able to finish the night with 25 points, thanks to his 13/15 night from the charity stripe. It was refreshing to see Giannis get to the line with the frequency that he did. It would be lovely to see this become a trend. While he did a great job drawing fouls, Giannis struggled with his own foul trouble, eventually fouling out in the overtime period. Aside from the foul trouble and shooting woes, Giannis was his typical excellent self. He had three blocks and two steals on the evening, as well as 13 rebounds. He played big in the fourth quarter, which is another reason his disqualification in the overtime was so disappointing.

Jabari Parker

F, Milwaukee Bucks

AJabari Parker was near unstoppable for much of the game on Tuesday. With LeBron spending much of his time guarding Giannis, the Cavaliers had no answer for Jabari. He was too big for the likes of Iman Shumpert, who he went right through to score the game-tying basket with 15 seconds left in regulation. He was too quick for the Cavaliers big men. Just about every time he had the ball, Jabari had an advantage, and he aggressively exploited that advantage again and again. He finished with 30 points on 13/25 shooting and he pulled down nine rebounds. He did miss two free throws in the last minute of the overtime period, which would have tied the game. And he also failed to contest a failed to get over a screen on an in-bounds play, giving LeBron a wide open three point look that gave the Cavaliers the lead for good. A huge game, boundless potential, but work still to do.

John Henson

C, Milwaukee Bucks

BJohn Henson continued his run of solid play that began with his insertion into the starting lineup. He scored the ball well, especially in the first half, when he scored 10 of his 14 points. He also came up big on defense at the end of regulation, blocking a LeBron James lay-up attempt and securing a big rebound, one of his eight, shortly thereafter. It is looking more and more like the move to put Henson in the starting lineup can be considered a wise one.Next: Bench

Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Bench

Greg Monroe

C, Milwaukee Bucks

C-Greg Monroe was not much of a factor in his 17 minutes on the floor. Moose scored six points and grabbed four rebounds. But it was a quiet six and four.

Malcolm Brogdon

G, Milwaukee Bucks

C+Malcolm Brogdon threw down two powerful dunks, one each for Kyrie Irving and LeBron James. Demonstrating his savvy yet again, Brogdon did not stare at LeBron after dunking on him the way he did to Kyrie. This rook is always thinking! In spite of not hitting from outside, Brogdon contributed with solid defense and passing, notching five assists.

Jason Terry

SG, Milwaukee Bucks

DJason Terry has not been able to find his jump shot with any consistency at all. He is not a particularly strong defender or rebounder, so he doesn’t contribute much outside of experience when his shot is not falling. Terry finished the game with two points, two rebounds and an assist.

Mirza Teletovic

F, Milwaukee Bucks

B-Mirza Teletovic has been looking to take advantage of closeouts lately, resulting in a higher percentage of his shots being from inside the arc than we are used to seeing. Mirza hit three of his four shots from inside the three point line, but only one of five from beyond it. In addition to his nine points, Mirza also grabbed five rebounds. Next: Jason Kidd

Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Head Coach

Jason Kidd

Coach, Milwaukee Bucks

B-The Bucks were once again without the services of Michael Beasley, and Jason Kidd responded by shortening the rotation. Only four bench players saw any action in this one, while three of the starters (Giannis, Jabari and Snell) played 40+ minutes and Delly logged 39. It is pretty clear that Kidd has somewhere between little and no trust in any of the guys further down the bench.Next: Cleveland Cavaliers

Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Opposition

Cleveland Cavaliers

Central, 20-6

With this loss, the Bucks fell back to the .500 mark for the season,  at 13-13. Milwaukee has another tough game coming up next, as the Bucks hit the road to Cleveland for the second game of this mini-series on Wednesday.

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