MILWAUKEE -- By his own admission, LeBron James still is not completely recovered from the left ankle injury that limited to just one preseason game.

But, if the Cleveland Cavaliers' first two games are any indication, even James on one leg is still better than most of the players he'll face.

James proved that again Friday, scoring 24 points with eight assists and five rebounds, leading the Cavaliers to a 116-97 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center.

"We went over the game plan this morning at shootaround and we executed it," James said. "It's a good road win for us. To have seven new guys and we're still working on our lineups and things of that nature ... to come in on their home floor where they play pretty well, it's a big win for us."

James, who played 41 minutes in the season opener Tuesday, was on the court for 37 minutes Friday night. Though he was seen favoring the ankle slightly in the second half, he reported no serious problems after the game.

Fortunately for the Cavs, he didn't have to do it alone.

Kyle Korver and Kevin Love chipped in with 17 points each while Jae Crowder finished with 14 on 6-of-8 shooting and Derrick Rose added 12, including a perfect 6-for-6 showing from the free throw line.

After making just five 3-pointers in their season opener at Boston earlier in the week, the Cavs knocked down 11 of 26 attempts Friday -- five of them by Korver -- and shot 54.3 percent overall while dominating down low, where they outscored Milwaukee 64-60 and held a 43-31 advantage on the boards.

"The starting lineup was good," Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. "We had a lot of great cuts early. They know how to play together, we just have to keep building on it and keep working."

But while the Cavs found a way to support their star, the Bucks couldn't do the same for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Antetokounmpo scored a game-high 34 points on 15-of-22 shooting with eight rebounds and eight assists, but the rest of the squad shot a combined 38.3 percent (23 of 60) from the floor.

Malcolm Brogdon did his part, hitting 6 of 12 shots -- including four 3-pointers -- to finish with 16 points, but Khris Middleton was flat for a second straight game and only scored eight while going 0 of 5 from distance.

"Giannis did a really good job trying to find the open guy and being aggressive," Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd said. "He scored a lot of points but he needs his teammates to make some open shots and take the pressure off him."

Aside from Korver, Cleveland (2-0) struggled from long range as well, especially in the first half. The Cavaliers were 2 of 12 on 3s in the opening half and James was held to five points but an 11-of-11 effort from the free-throw line and a 52.5 percent showing from the floor helped the Cavaliers take a 55-49 lead into halftime.

Milwaukee cut the deficit to a point after Thon Maker's 3-pointer made it a 64-63 game. The Cavs answered with a 7-0 run to go up 71-63 with 5:13 left in the quarter.

Antetokounmpo converted a three-point play to stop the bleeding, but Korver hit from distance on three straight possessions to put the Cavs up by a dozen as they closed the quarter with a 15-3 run and went into the fourth with an 86-73 lead.

"Korver came in and did his job," Kidd said. "Those three hurt us."

Milwaukee got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

NOTES: The Cavaliers will likely be without PG Derrick Rose Saturday when they host the Magic. Rose twisted his ankle and left the game after colliding with Greg Monroe in the second half. Head coach Tyronn Lue said Rose would be re-evaluated when the team returns to Cleveland. ... The Cavaliers have won four straight and eight of their last 10 meetings with the Bucks. ... Milwaukee signed F Joel Bolomboy and F Cliff Alexander to two-way contracts. Both will join the Bucks' G-League affiliate this season. ... Cleveland has made at least 10 3-pointers in five consecutive games against Milwaukee. ... Both teams were kicking off their first back-to-back stretches of the season Friday. The Cavs return home to host Orlando on Saturday evening while Milwaukee will face Portland at the Bradley Center.