The Cleveland Cavaliers took the floor for their first match-up of this year’s Samsung NBA Summer League on Friday night against the Milwaukee Bucks inside Cox Pavilion Arena. Although the Cavs fell 81-75, there were plenty of positives to take away from Day One of the 11-day showcase.
The Cavs came out strong in the opening minutes of play, en route to an early 15-7 lead. However, Milwaukee battled back and took the lead near the mid-way point of the quarter. Despite a hot start from Cleveland, the scoreboard showed a four-point lead for the Bucks at the end of the first quarter (24-20).
As the second quarter progressed, the Cavs kept the Bucks just within striking distance. At one point, the good guys cut their deficit to just 2 points. The Bucks, however, continued to make shots to keep the Cavaliers at bay. At the half, the scoreboard read 48-41 to Milwaukee.
Coming out of the locker room, Cleveland ramped up their offensive intensity. The Cavs even managed to battle back to a 52-52 scenario at the 5:37 mark of the third quarter. But, from that point on, it seemed the war was on. After three, the Cavs were trailing (64-58), but lurking in the distance was the free-throw making machine known as Jordan McRae.
The final quarter was basically a microcosm of the entire game.
Despite holding the Bucks to 39% from the field over the course of the game, the Cavs were beaten on the glass by quite a large margin (50-36). When the smoke cleared, Cleveland had dropped their first summer league game in the Las Vegas desert. As the final horn blew, the scoreboard read 81-75…bad guys.
Many Cavs fans are looking for McRae to have a big impact on this year’s summer squad. Well, Cavs fans, he did not disappoint on Friday night. McRae finished with a team-high 23 points, four rebounds, four assists, one block, one steal, and a Herculean 16 of 17 mark from the charity stripe in 36 minutes.
Recent Cavaliers draftee Kay Felder turned in a solid performance as well. Felder’s scorecard for tonight’s bout with Milwaukee will show 14 points, five assists, three rebounds, and three steals in 27 minutes.
It may have only been a Summer League game, but Felder will never forget his first game on the court as a Cavalier. He also put this nifty highlight on film, in which the 5’9″ point guard drives to the basket and hits a difficult bank shot over 7’1″ center, Thon Maker, the 10th overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft.
5'9'' vs. 7'1''? Advantage @2kayzero#CavsSummerhttps://t.co/ZTFYX4tmo4
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) July 8, 2016
The most surprising performance from a Cavalier on Friday night was the lockdown, get-that-weak-stuff-out-of-here defense that Diamon Simpson displayed on the low block. Simpson finished with seven points, six rebounds, six blocks, and four steals.
Catch more Cavaliers’ summer league action tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. EST as Cleveland takes on the Brooklyn Nets on NBA TV.
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