Cavs Top 3: Hero ball nearly sinks Cleveland Cavaliers in nail biting win over the Milwaukee Bucks

The Cleveland Cavaliers nearly choked a win away by playing hero-ball against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Cleveland Cavaliers got a much-needed win on Wednesday when the Cavs downed the Milwaukee Bucks to the tune of 114-106. The score isn’t indicative of the game, however, as the Cavaliers nearly choked away the game in the fourth quarter. Giannis Antetokounmpo did most of the damage, dropping 45, mostly on Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Antetokounmpo would not be denied.

He nearly led a comeback after enting the 4th trailing 93 to 77. The Bucks exploded and outscored the Cavs in the quarter, and a lot of the reason why the Bucks, who were very one-dimensional offensively during that period, were able to do so was that the Cavs stopped playing team offense.

Too many times Darius Garland or Donovan Mobley would take the ball up-court after a missed Bucks’ shot and would try to single-handily score on them. That would often fail and the Cavs made just five field goals that quarter, with Garland scoring four of them.

Of the 10 missed field goals in the fourth, six belonged to Mitchell and Garland. Ball movement stopped at one point late in the period, and there were no attempts to set up any offensive plays to get guys the best shots possible.

Whether the anxiety of trying to topple the top team in the East was getting to them or Garland and Mitchell both decided they were going to try to out-Antetokounmpo the actual Antetokounmpo and single-handily take over the game is up for debate.

Hubris and ego, however, nearly cost the Cavs this game. Thankfully, Mitchell and Garland are very good and the duo was able to save the game for the Cavs but it could’ve been a very ugly end had things gone a bit differently for the Bucks.

Cleveland Cavaliers top 3 vs. the Milwaukee Bucks

1 Point – Kevin Love

29 minutes,  9 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, +17 BPM

.428/.500/.000 (all with a broken thumb)

2 Points – Donovan Mitchell

37 minutes, 36 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds 2 steals,  +17 BPM

.428/.333/.938

3 Points – Jarrett Allen

40 minutes, 19 points, 8 rebounds 3 assists, +16 BPM (playing against Giannis)

.800/.000/.750

Cavs Top 3 Seasonal Standings

1. Donovan Mitchell –49 Points
2. Darius Garland – 34 Points
3. Evan Mobley – 28 Points
4. Jarrett Allen – 23 Points
5. Cedi Osman – 20 Points
6. Kevin Love – 13 Points
7. Caris LeVert – 12 Points
8. Isaac Okoro – 5 Points
9. Dean Wade – 3 Points
10. Lamar Stevens – 2 Points