James scored 40 points on 16-of-29 shooting and added 12 rebounds with 10 assists. Kevin Love started and scored 18 points with seven rebounds in his first action since breaking his wrist in a Jan. 30 game against Detroit.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 37, and Khris Middleton added 30. The Bucks shot 51.1 percent from the floor and made 8 of 31 3-pointers but were outrebounded 42-32 and had no answer for James.

Middleton scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers, but the Cavaliers, behind nine points from James, took a 26-25 lead into the second.

Cleveland stretched its lead to five early in the second, but eight straight points from Antetokounmpo got the Bucks within two and a 3-pointer from Jabari Parker gave them a 40-39 lead with 7:18 left in the half.

A 10-0 run gave the Cavaliers a 58-51 lead, and after a 38-point effort in the quarter, they went into halftime up 64-57.

Middleton had 13 in the third as Milwaukee got as close as three, but 17 from James let the Cavaliers open the fourth with an eight-point cushion.

With James on the bench to start the final quarter, Milwaukee failed to take advantage and fell behind by 17 when Love sank a pair of free throws with 4:34 to play.

While Love returned, the Cavaliers were without head coach Tyronn Lue, who announced Monday that he was stepping away from the team indefinitely to focus on his health.

Associate head coach Larry Drew, who led Milwaukee during the 2013-14 season, took over Monday and will lead the Cavaliers until Lue returns -- which he hopes is before the playoffs begin.

--Field Level Media