Cavaliers give Bucks rude welcome to move up to third in the East

Cleveland Cavaliers defends home with three consecutive wins

The Cleveland Cavaliers completed the three-game homestand unscathed following a 115-99 victory over the defending champions Milwaukee Bucks. With the win, the Cavs move up to third place in a very tight Eastern Conference ladder.

After two somber offensive outings in wins against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New York Knicks, Cleveland successfully closes out the stretch with a bang behind the bench mob gunners Kevin Love and Cedi Osman, who combined for more than 40 percent of the Cavs’ final score.

The five-time NBA All-Star Love continued to make a tremendous impact in his as the team’s primary reserve, top-scoring with 25 to go with nine rebounds and two steals while Osman rounds back to form to add 23 points as the duo combined for 11 triples.

Trailing by as much as a dozen, the Cavaliers erased that deficit and took an eight-point lead of their own by halftime following 39-point second-quarter eruption. The ‘Cavalanche‘ continued as the home team opened the second half with another lopsided run to blow the game open.

After allowing the Bucks to score 35 in the opening quarter, Cleveland’s patented defense put down the clamps and only gave up 64 points the rest of the way to secure their second lopsided win against the defending champs in three meetings this season.

Resilient Cavs continue to move up the standings

Apart from Kevin Love and Cedi Osman, aspiring first-time All-Star Darius Garland also joined the long-range party with a trio of his own, tallying 19 points and eight assists as Cleveland drained a collective 19 triples in the win. Milwaukee actually sparked the proverbial three-point contest early but sputtered after the Cavs made the necessary adjustments in guarding the perimeter.

The Bucks’ reigning Finals Most Valuable Player and two-time regular season MVP Giannis Antetokoumnpo, who scored a game-high 26 points, believes the upstart Cavaliers are legitimate playoff contenders, even went as far as saying the Cavs are “fighting for the title themselves.”

He’s not completely off there. Behind their balanced attack and solid defense, the Cavs just moved up to solo third in the East with 30 wins against 19 losses, still just 1.5 games behind the first-place Miami Heat team in a suffocatingly competitive conference.

If the Cleveland Cavaliers can keep the run going, they will soon be able to secure a ticket to their first postseason appearance in four years. Next up is a visit to the neighboring Detroit Pistons on January 30, before returning to the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to host the New Orleans Pelicans to close the month.