POSTGAME: Cavs Tame Bucks, Again

For the second night in a row the Cavaliers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks. Tonight’s Cavalier victory was to a tune of 113-102.

Some scribbles from the game…

• DeAndre Liggins started in place of the injured JR Smith, and Richard Jefferson started in place of the injured Kevin Love. Liggins should be starting in place of Smith for the foreseeable future, however I would expect Love back into the lineup Friday night against the Nets.
• Even without Kevin Love, Cleveland’s offense can still be extremely powerful. LeBron James scored 29 points and Kyrie Irving finished with 31 points and a career high 13 assists. Having Love obviously helps to take the burden off of those two, but this team would still be very good playing a two man game with Irving and James.
• As previously mentioned, JR Smith is out due to an injured right thumb. It was revealed that he has a fracture in his thumb which was sustained in the first game of the back-to-back with the Bucks. Smith will require surgery and a timetable for his return is not yet available. I would expect to see Liggins stepping into the starting lineup until Smith returns. Smith’s injury does make the Cavaliers incredibly thin. While he is out the team will have three unplayable bodies on the roster with Smith, Chris Andersen and Mo Williams taking up spots. It will be very interesting to see how the Cavs are able to improve their roster moving forward.
• I do think we will see more of Kay Felder as well as Jordan McRae while Smith is out in order to make up his minutes. That may not go very well, but it is one of the few options the Cavaliers have while trying to prolong the career of LeBron. McRae did have eight points in 17 minutes against the Bucks on Wednesday.
• Richard Jefferson was tossed with roughly three minutes remaining in the game. He was entangled with Bucks’ F Thon Maker and tackled to the ground. I thought this was handled questionably, at best, by the officials.
• The Cavs are back in action Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena against the Brooklyn Nets.