Bucks Zone

Giannis Antetokounmpo's 45 not enough as the Milwaukee Bucks fall to the Cleveland Cavaliers

Giannis tried to carry the Bucks to the win but fell short.
Matthew Dugandzic|
© David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

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Milwaukee BucksCleveland Cavaliers

As the saying goes, "the third time's the charm." That was certainly the case for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who took down the Milwaukee Bucks, 114-106, to claim their fifth win in a row. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 45 points and tried to will his team to victory in the fourth. However, the Cavs held steady—thanks to some accurate free-throw shooting from star Donovan Mitchell who had 36 points and went 9-for-9 from the charity stripe in the final quarter—to get their first win against the Bucks in three tries this season. Here are the key takeaways from the game.

Giannis' second 40-plus point game in a row

Antetokounmpo kept on rolling, scoring 45 points on a hyper-efficient 17-of-27 from the field and 11-of-16 from the free-throw line. On a night when many Bucks reliables went AWOL, it was up to Giannis to carry the load. And he did despite the presence of the Cavs' fierce rim protectors, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. In the end though, the Bucks dug themselves too deep a hole to crawl out of, and Giannis' heroics weren't enough.

"He had an aggressive mindset the whole game," Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said. "He really put us on his back on a night when I think collectively we need to be better. But his determination, his will, again, we were close. We had a chance. We had some big possessions where we make one or two more shots, maybe we can get over the hump or make it a one-possession game or two-possession game."

Other Bucks fell silent

In a marquee match-up between two Eastern Conference contenders, the Bucks were let down by the performance of their supporting cast. Already without All-Star wingman Khris Middleton who's nursing an injury, the Bucks got just 8 points from Jrue Holiday on a putrid 3-of-12 shooting clip and 6 from bench sparkplug Bobby Portis Jr. Fortunately for the Bucks, Giannis could pick up the slack and keep them in it.

"I think when we have a bad night, for the most part, he's going to try and will us into having a good offensive game. He's going to try to will us to keep us going," said Holiday of Antetokounmpo.

Turnover woes

The Bucks couldn't take care of the ball enough to give themselves a chance. They coughed up the ball 21 times, with Antetokounmpo, Holiday, and Brook Lopez accounting for a whopping 14 turnovers. If the Bucks are to make a deep postseason run, they'll have to clean up their ball security.

"We definitely made it tough on ourselves," Lopez said. "I wasn't proud of my performance at all. But, we showed great resolve."

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Matthew Dugandzic
MATTHEW DUGANDZIC

Matthew finished his bachelor's degree in Economics (Management) at the University of Split and got his master's degree in the same field at the University of Zadar. Whether it is playing the game as an undersized 6'3'' power forward or simply watching it, Matthew can't get enough of it. After all, he has been an avid NBA fan since the 2000s. But don't get him wrong, as Matthew still loves the old-school NBA and is a true student of the game. From on-court moments to off-court stuff, whether it's about the stars of modern-day basketball or legends of the game, Matthew covers every category of the NBA world and basketball in general, as long as it makes for an engaging and exciting story.