Cleveland Cavaliers at Milwaukee Bucks Preview

Keys to Winning

• Cleveland absolutely needs to continue to give touches to their veterans. Kevin Love had a more typical game in the win compared to the first game. He played more aggressive, yet smart. The offense ran best when it went through him and Tristan Thompson. Thompson had a career night and made his first career three-point shot. More production from these two on a nightly basis will lead to more wins overall.
• Cleveland has to be better from the three-point line. The Cavaliers have a ton of people who can be a threat from behind the line. The fact of the matter is, they have to be smarter from range. There has been some bad shot selection so far this season.
• Continue to let rookies take shots. Darius Garland has proved he’s a lethal shooter and can handle the rock with the best. Kevin Porter Jr.‘s ball-handling skills are some of the best that I’ve personally seen. Cleveland has to consistently give them touches to let them ease into the game more.
• The Cavalier backcourt has to match the production of the frontcourt. It’s as simple as that.
• Finally, Cleveland has to neutralize Giannis Antetokounmpo. This tactic is the most obvious thing you could think of, but it is vital when facing the Bucks. Cleveland has to make their role players beat them. They’ve got to try to keep Giannis in front of them and double him when necessary. It will be impossible to stop him, but they just need to slow him down.

Best Case Scenario

• Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson prove they are capable of producing consistently, and both have big games.
• The young guards all produce in scoring and playmaking.
• Giannis is neutralized, and the Cavs limit him to around 20 points.
• Cavs win by one in overtime

Worst Case Scenario

• The worst thing the Cavs can do is to go away from their identity. They need to keep on spreading the love (no pun intended), and giving everyone touches.
• The Cavs don’t play enough defense and eventually just give up.
• Giannis, Khris Middleton, and Eric Bledsoe all carry the way to a huge win.

My Realistic Prediction

So far, I’m 0-2 on predictions, which is disappointing. I think that Cleveland is going to stick to their identity, but it just won’t be enough. I think Kevin Love will play great, but he won’t have the help he needs from other teammates. Giannis is going to be tough to guard because Cleveland really has nobody that can match up with him. I’ve got Milwaukee winning this one 127-113.

Cleveland takes on Milwaukee tonight at 8 PM EST on FS-OH.