National Basketball Association
Cleveland 114, Milwaukee 106
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, Ohio
Officials: #21 Dedric Taylor, #46 Ben Taylor, #77 Karl Lane
Attendance: 19432

A 15-0 run in the first quarter gave the host Cleveland Cavaliers a lead they never surrendered en route to a 114-106 defeat of the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.

Four different Cavaliers scored during their pivotal, early-game run, with the last points coming from Jarrett Allen.

Donovan Mitchell started Wednesday's contest slowly on offense, scoring four first-quarter points and sitting on seven for the first half before his buzzer-beating 3-pointer sent Cleveland into intermission with an 18-point lead.

The 3-pointer set the tone for a 26-point second half for Mitchell, who finished with a team-high 36 points. He got to the free-throw line for 16 attempts, making 15.

Mitchell also dished a team-high six assists.

Behind Giannis Antetokounmpo's season-high 45 points, Milwaukee chipped away at the deficit in the second half. The Bucks rallied from down as many as 24 points to pull within five points when Pat Connaughton connected on a 3-pointer with 2:21 remaining in regulation.

But Darius Garland, who scored 23 points, answered with a jumper and a free throw to push the lead back to eight points and keep Milwaukee at bay.

Allen added 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, and Kevin Love scored nine points with a team-high nine rebounds.

The win marked Cleveland's fifth straight, and fourth over the Cavaliers' ongoing, six-game homestand. Milwaukee fell to 1-1 on its current, five-game road swing.

Antetokounmpo grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and dished four assists in the loss, and Jrue Holiday flirted with a triple-double at nine points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Brook Lopez and MarJon Beauchamp were the only Bucks to score in double figures along with Antetokounmpo, finishing with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Milwaukee shot 39 of 83 from the floor for the game, including 13 of 30 from 3-point range, but a 15-of-38 shooting performance in the first half put the Bucks in too deep a hole to rally.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Milwaukee   Cleveland
Giannis Antetokounmpo 45 Scoring Donovan Mitchell 36
Jrue Holiday 8 Assists Donovan Mitchell 6
Giannis Antetokounmpo 14 Rebounds Kevin Love 9
Giannis Antetokounmpo 11 Free Throws Made Donovan Mitchell 15
Jrue Holiday 2 Steals Donovan Mitchell 2
Giannis Antetokounmpo 2 Blocks Caris LeVert 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Milwaukee 106 47.0 13-30 15-22 20 46 5 7 21
Cleveland 114 48.2 10-32 22-28 22 37 3 8 10
Upcoming Games
  • Cleveland will play their next game at home against Toronto. The Cavaliers have a W/L % of .714 after a win and .583 after a loss.
  • Milwaukee will play their next game on the road against Brooklyn. The Bucks have a W/L % of .636 after a win and .889 after a loss.