The Cavaliers played the second game of a back to back Saturday night as they took on the Milwaukee Bucks and lost in a double overtime thriller 108-105.
Prior to tipoff, there was a moment of silence at the Bradley Center, and the French National Anthem was played before the Star Spangled Banner, as a sign of solidarity with France following the devastating terror attacks of Friday, November 13th.
The Cavs went 0 for 5 from the field to start the game, but Kevin Love picked them up, scoring 12 points in the first quarter to help the Cavs stay with Milwaukee as the game was tied at 23 after one quarter, even with LeBron James only scoring three points in the first twelve minutes.
LeBron would not stay cold for long as early in the second quarter he passed John Havlicek to move into 11th all-time in scoring combined between the regular season and postseason.
Backup point guard Jared Bayless was hot for the Bucks in the first half, scoring ten points off the bench.
20-year-old Giannis Antetokounmpo had a big first half for the young Bucks as well, scoring 12 points to go with seven rebounds.
Milwaukee was able to head into halftime leading 50-44, thanks in large part to 13 offensive rebounds, opposed to Cleveland’s four.
Love picked up where he left off in the second half, scoring eight points in the third quarter, and posted his seventh double double of the season, finishing the night with 24 points and 14 rebounds.
Love has double doubled in five of the last six games and Saturday night was the 300th time he did so over the course of his eight seasons in the NBA.
Aside from Love, it was a rough third quarter for the Wine and Gold, as the Cavs shot 24 percent, and were outscored 20-17 and entered the fourth quarter down by nine, 70-61.
Veteran small forward Richard Jefferson came up huge for Cleveland early in the fourth quarter, draining two three pointers in the first two minutes to make it a two-point game.
Milwaukee would respond and go on a 9-0 run to make it 82-71 with just under seven minutes remaining.
The Cavs fought back to cut it down to a six-point game with five minutes to go, as Milwaukee found themselves in early foul trouble, putting the Cavs in the bonus.
Then, a momentum shifting play took place with 4:17 to go as Love passed up a wide open three to find LeBron under the hoop for an emphatic dunk to cut the deficit to four.
The Bucks scored on the next possession, but Cleveland took advantage of an offensive rebound by Love, and J.R. Smith hit a clutch three-pointer on the second chance opportunity to make it 84-81 in favor of Milwaukee.
A few possessions later, LeBron came through with a put back layup to make it 86-84 with just over a minute and a half to play, and then Kris Middleton was called for a charge on the other end to give the Cavs the ball.
The Cavs would come up empty on a three-point attempt by LeBron, and Bayless would deliver for Milwaukee with 45 seconds remaining to make it 88-84.
LeBron came back and gave the Cavs a much-needed, quick bucket with 40 seconds to play and make it a two-point game.
J.R. Smith grabbed his first steal of the night with 21 seconds left and called timeout.
Jefferson inbounded to Love, who found LeBron with a wide open lane to the hoop for a slam dunk to silence the Milwaukee faithful and tie the game at 88 with 16.5 seconds remaining.
Jared Bayless attempted a game-winner, but it was no good and Tristan Thompson swatted the rebound away as time expired, and the Cavaliers headed into their first overtime of the season, tied at 88.
LeBron won the jump ball to start overtime and both teams came up empty on their first possessions, but Greg Monroe would make it 90-88.
Michael Carter-Williams made it four-point game with a breakaway steal and dunk, but Mo Williams answered back with his first bucket of the night to make it 92-90.
A minute later, Carter-Williams cut through the Cavaliers defense for a beautiful layup to make it 94-90 with just over two minutes to play.
LeBron drove to the basket and drew a foul on Antetokounmpo, and split the pair of free throws.
Carter-Williams missed a three-pointer on the next possession and LeBron came through with a backbreaking three-pointer to tie the game at 94 with 1:28 left.
Middleton would answer back to put Milwaukee ahead 96-94, and Love was rejected on the other end of the court.
Carter-Williams missed the rim as the shot clock expired to give the Cavs the ball down by two with 35 seconds left.
Right on cue, LeBron drove to the basket and layed it in to tie the game with 32 seconds on the clock.
Bayless tried once again to put the Bucks ahead, but LeBron came out of nowhere and rejected him underneath the basket, giving Cleveland the ball with 7.4 seconds to play.
Predictably, LeBron was the guy to shoot the potential game-winner, but it was short off the front of the rim, and the game headed into double overtime tied at 96.
Thompson would take the jump ball duties and give the Cavs first possession, and LeBron drained a deep three pointer to set the tone in double OT.
Middleton came right back to tie the game at 99 with a big three pointer of his own.
After an offensive foul on LeBron, the Bucks took over and Antetokounmpo drew a foul to get two free throws. The 20-year-old showed poise beyond his years, hitting both to make it 101-99.
A few possessions later, LeBron took it upon himself once again to draw a foul on Antetokounmpo, which was his sixth of the game and ended his night. LeBron’s free throw struggles continued as he split the pair.
The next possession, Carter-Williams hit two free throws after drawing a foul on Smith to make it a three-point game.
After a missed three point attempt by LeBron, Williams tipped it in for the Cavs to cut the deficit to one.
Middleton missed a three on the other end and Love hauled in his 14th rebound of the night, but Williams would miss a three-point attempt to try and take the lead.
Greivis Vasquez followed up hitting his biggest shot of the night, a three pointer to make it 106-102 in favor of Milwaukee with 1:53 remaining.
After an errant inbounds pass from Jefferson, the Bucks took over possession with 1:25 to play, still up four.
Both teams came up empty on their next possessions, and LeBron fouled Carter-Williams attempting to grab an offensive rebound, sending Carter-Williams to the line where he knocked down both free throws to put the Bucks ahead by six with exactly one minute to go.
The following possession, a LeBron pass to Smith went off of Smith and resulted in a backcourt violation, and Milwaukee turned it over right back to Cleveland with 36.2 seconds left.
Smith delivered in the clutch again, hitting a huge three pointer with 26 seconds left to make it a three-point game.
As the clock wound down, Bayless attempted a runner to the hoop that was no good, but Monroe snagged the offensive rebound and ran the clock down to give Milwaukee the 108-105 win.
The Cavaliers win streak ended at 8 as Cleveland fell to 8-2 on the season with the loss, and LeBron’s season-high 37 points were not enough.
LeBron’s missed free throws proved to be costly on the night as James was 6 of 12 from the line.
The Bucks received double figure scoring from seven players, none bigger than Monroe who put up 16 points and 17 rebounds on the night.
One of the big differences in the game; the Cavs were 17 of 27 from the free throw line, while Milwaukee went 16 for 22.
Milwaukee also outscored the Cavaliers down low, scoring 54 of their 108 points in the paint, opposed to Cleveland’s 38.
Another factor contributing to Cleveland falling short was that Love, who played so great for four quarters, was held scoreless in the two overtime periods.
The Cavs are now 3-2 on the road this season and will wrap up their three-game road trip Tuesday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills against the Detroit Pistons (5-4) at 7:30 pm.
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