Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers reacts during the second quarter against the Washington Wizards at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on October 23, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. Jason Miller/Getty Images/AFP
A 15-0 run in the first quarter gave the host Cleveland Cavaliers a lead they never surrendered en route to a 114-106 defeat of the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.
Four different Cavaliers scored during their pivotal, early-game run, with the last points coming from Jarrett Allen.
Donovan Mitchell started Wednesday’s contest slowly on offense, scoring four first-quarter points and sitting on seven for the first half before his buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send Cleveland into intermission with an 18-point lead.
The 3-pointer set the tone for a 26-point second half for Mitchell, who finished with a team-high 36 points. He got to the free-throw line for 16 attempts, making 15.
Mitchell also dished a team-high six assists.
36 PTS
4 REB
6 ASTSpida led Cleveland to the W at home 🔥 pic.twitter.com/yPmxla3Hm5
— NBA (@NBA) December 22, 2022
Behind Giannis Antetokounmpo’s season-high 45 points, Milwaukee chipped away at the deficit in the second half. The Bucks rallied from down as many as 24 points to pull within five points when Pat Connaughton connected on a 3-pointer with 2:21 remaining in regulation.
But Darius Garland, who scored 23 points, answered with a jumper and a free throw to push the lead back to eight points and keep Milwaukee at bay.
Allen added 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, and Kevin Love scored nine points with a team-high nine rebounds.
Giannis dropped 40+ PTS and 10+ REB for the second game in a row 💪
45 PTS
14 REB
4 AST
63% FGM pic.twitter.com/B6KkagPPfe— NBA (@NBA) December 22, 2022
The win marked Cleveland’s fifth straight, and fourth over the Cavaliers’ ongoing, six-game homestand. Milwaukee fell to 1-1 on its current, five-game road swing.
Antetokounmpo grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and dished four assists in the loss, and Jrue Holiday flirted with a triple-double at nine points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Brook Lopez and MarJon Beauchamp were the only Bucks to score in double figures along with Antetokounmpo, finishing with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Milwaukee shot 39 of 83 from the floor for the game, including 13 of 30 from 3-point range, but a 15-of-38 shooting performance in the first half put the Bucks in too deep a hole to rally.