Cavaliers hold off Bucks 118-113 to move to 2-1 on the season
BY TIM SHIRER
CAVS BET WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - The Cleveland Cavaliers (2-1) got off the snide on Friday night picking up their first win of the season 131-124 in Brooklyn over the Nets. After a 15-0 start last season, the Cavaliers opened this season with a 119-111 loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Sunday night the Cavaliers welcomed the Milwaukee Bucks (2-1, 1-1 road) to Rocket Arena. Last season the Cavs swept the Bucks 4-0. All-time the Bucks led the series 131-105, but heading into Sunday night the Cavs held the advantage in Cleveland (Cleveland Arena, Richfield Coliseum, Rocket Arena) 65-53. The Cavs added one more to the win column on Sunday night as they held off the Bucks to secure the 118-113 win in front of the sellout crowd.
De’Andre Hunter made his first start in his first action of the season and had three points early giving the Cavs a 7-3 lead with 8:59 left on the first quarter clock. With 7:05 left on the clock Evan Mobley pulled up and hit a jumper giving the Cavs a 12-8 lead. Bucks coach Doc Rivers then took a timeout. With 6:13 left on the clock the Bucks tied the game at 12 when AJ Green hit a fadeaway. The Bucks continued an 8-0 run when Sam Merrill was called for his second personal foul in less than a minute and Green made three free throws. The Cavs then went on a 6-0 run capped off by a jumper in the paint by Lonzo Ball. With :44.4 left in the opening quarter, the Bucks took a four point lead 29-25 on a three pointer by former Cavs Taurean Prince. When the quarter ended the Cavs trailed 31-29. Merrill led all scorers with 10 first quarter points. Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with eight points. Cleveland outrebounded the Bucks 10-9. The problem for Cleveland was hitting 15% (2 of 13) from three-point range while the Bucks shot 43% (3 of 7).
With 9:38 left in the second quarter, Jaylon Tyson hit a jumper from just behind the three-point line to tie the game 36-36. With 8:11 left the Cavs took the lead 39-36 when Hunter drained a fadeaway from just in front of the three-point arc. Craig Porter, Jr. then got in the act with 7:22 left when he hit a jumper, putting the Cavs on top by four points. With 5:00 left in the first half the Cavs lead grew to nine as Jarrett Allen slammed the ball through the cylinder giving Cleveland a 49-40 lead. A couple of late turnovers by the Cavs and the Bucks cut the lead to 58-54 on a three pointer by Myles Turner with 1:32 left. The Cavs, however, were able to finish the half with some positive momentum when Mobley was called for a charge. The call was challenged by Kenny Atkinson and was overturned. Mobley then went to the free throw line and made both free throws with :22.5 left giving the Cavs a 65-56 lead. Antetokounmpo and Merrill led everyone in scoring with 14 first half points. The Cavs shot 54% (23 of 43) from the field in the first half while the Bucks shot 53% (19 of 36). The Milwaukee did outshoot Cleveland in the first half from behind the three-point stripe 53% (8 of 15) to 32% (6 of 19). The Cavs after a miserable first quarter from three-point range did shoot better in the second period shooting 4 of 6. The Cavs dominated the boards in the first half 22-12.
Early in the third quarter the Cavs extended their lead to 70-56 when Mitchell drained a three on a pass from Mobley with 10:18 left on the third quarter clock. With 6:54 left in the quarter the Cavs lead grew to 18 at 79-61 after Mobley was fouled and drained both free throws. One thing that has changed about Mobley since his rookie season is he now has no fear of going to the basket with the ball. With 4:47 left in the period Milwaukee had gone on a 9-2 run cutting the Cavs lead to 81-70. Atkinson called a timeout to stop the momentum. The Cleveland lead continued to shrink and with 3:08 left after a Cavs turnover and a fast break dunk by Giannis the Cleveland lead was just eight points at 83-75. With 1:47 left in the period the Cavs lead was down to three when Green drained a three right in front of the Cavs bench. Then just 20 seconds later after the Cavs turned the ball over on an offensive foul the lead was down to 83-82 when Prince scored at the other end. As time ran out in the quarter the Cavs led 87-84 as Turner fouled Mitchell with :00.5 left, sending Mitchell to the free throw line. Mitchell hit one of two free throws. Giannis led all scorers with 29 points through three quarters. Mobley paced the Cavs with 15. Mitchell and Merrill each had 14. The Cavs shot a miserable 25% (5 of 20) from the field in the third quarter. The Cavs continued to dominate the boards 36-24. Not only did Cleveland shoot 25% from the field they were in worse behind the three-point line in the third shooting 17% (2 of 12).
The Cavs came out hotter in the final quarter hitting four of their first six shots and took a 95-88 lead on a Mitchell layup with 9:23 left. Cleveland extended the lead to 98-88 when Hunter hit a three with 9:01 left in regulation. Milwaukee responded by cutting the Cleveland lead to 98-93 with 8:04 left when Prince hit a step back three courtesy of an assist from Giannis. Atkinson called an immediate timeout. With 6:53 left the Bucks tied the game on a dunk after a Cavs shot clock violation turnover. The Cavs responded and retook the lead 100-98 just 15 seconds later on a jumper by Hunter. With 3:54 left the Cavs built their lead back to seven points at 105-98 on a Mitchell fall back. With 3:06 left the lead was back down to five at 107-102 when Giannis scored in the paint. The Cavs took a timeout. With 2:41 left the lead had dwindled to 107-104 when Ryan Rollins drove the lane and scored. Merrill responded with a three at the other end. With 1:12 left and the Cavs up 110-106 Mitchell drained a jumper from the top of the paint to give Cleveland a 112-106 lead. Rivers took a timeout to draw up a play for the Bucks. A weak foul was called on Dean Wade with 1:01 left on the clock Giannis went to the free throw line and hit one of two to cut the Cavs lead to 112-107. With :27.2 left after the Cavs failed to score at the other end, Giannis scored in the paint cutting Cleveland’s lead to 112-109. The Bucks fouled the Cavs on the other end with :15.7 left, they had a foul to give. They then fouled Mobley on the inbound with :15.1 left. Mobley hit both free throws giving the Cavs a 114-109 lead. The game was a two-possession game. The Bucks did hit a three with :04.2 left cutting the lead to 114-112. The Cavs took a timeout and got the ball at half court after the timeout. Ball inbounded it to Mobley who was immediately fouled. Mobley once again hit both free throws sealing the Bucks fate with :03.5 left on the game clock with the Cavs leading 116-112. Hunter fouled Gary Trent, Jr. and Trent, Jr. hit one of two and :01.0 was left when Turner fouled Mobley. Mobley went to the other end and finished off the Cavs’ victory 118-113 by hitting both free throws.
Giannis led all scorers with 40 points, which included 11 in the final quarter. Mitchell led the Cavs with 24, 10 in the final 12 minutes. Mobley contributed 23 including the Cavs final six points, all from the charity stripe. Milwaukee outshot the Cavs 51% (40 of 79) to 45% (39 of 87). The gap was even larger from behind the three-point line as the Cavs shot only 30% (12 of 40) and the Bucks shot 40% (13 of 33). The Cavs won the game on the boards out rebounding the Bucks 44-37 and from the free throw line where the Cavs hit 28 of 35 and the Bucks hit 20 of 28. Mobley hit all 12 free throws he shot in the game.
The Cavs will not get a break as they will travel to Detroit on Monday night to face the Detroit Pistons (2-1) at Little Caesars Arena. The game will air exclusively on Peacock. It will be the first ever NBA game exclusively airing on Peacock. The Pistons hold the edge in the all-time series 133-108, while the Cavs hold the edge in Cleveland (CA, RC, RA) 67-53. The Cavs won the season series last year 3-1 against former Cavs bench boss JB Bickerstaff.
POSTED 10/26/2025 21:13
Lake County Sentinel
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Donovan Mitchell hits a free throw scoring one of his 24 points in the Cavs 118-113 win over Milwaukee on opening night at Rocket Arena. Photo by Tommy Shirer