Cleveland Cavaliers drop five straight after falling to the Milwaukee Bucks

Cleveland Cavaliers have lost five consecutive contests

The Cleveland Cavaliers continue skidding, stringing together five painful losses in a row following a 113-98 defeat on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks. After hanging with the conference leaders in the first half, the Cavs fell behind by as much as 20 after crumbling in the third quarter.

All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell returned to join a rejuvenated Darius Garland as each scored 23 points to lead the way for the Cavaliers, who remained without primary defensive anchor Jarrett Allen just when they needed him the most.

Rising star big man Evan Mobley added 20 points, seven boards, and two blocked shots, and by teaming up with Lamar Stevens, were able to somehow help limit the former two-time NBA season MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to just 16 markers–albeit still finishing with a near triple-double.

Meanwhile, Bucks center Brook Lopez led all scorers as he torched the Cavaliers’ basket, tallying a season-high 29 points off a 7-for-9 shooting clip from beyond the arc. Teammate Jordan Nwora added 21 as Milwaukee successfully defended its home court.

The Cavs continue skidding downhill

Cleveland still has to figure out how to most efficiently play its star guards Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell together. Their successful eight-game winning streak prior to the skid came with just Mitchell running the show, and of course, that does not paint a completely accurate picture.

Garland did struggle in the past few weeks after coming back from a freak eye injury sustained on opening night, but he seems to be rounding back to form, finding his shooting touch as evident in the magnificent rally against the Minnesota Timberwolves at home where he erupted for 51.

Meanwhile, the defense is really the main culprit for this early-season stumble. After being among the best defensive teams in the league last season (albeit with a lack of offensive weapons when it counted), Cleveland has visibly regressed on that end of the floor.

Of course, having Jarrett Allen out of commission greatly affects that metric, but the Cavs have allowed the opposing team to tally north of 100 points in 11 of their 14 games thus far in the season. Definitely not a good start.

Now 8-6, the Cleveland Cavaliers will look to benefit from some home cooking as they begin a four-game homestand at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse with a bout against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, November 18th.