MILWAUKEE — Cleveland Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff considered two road matchups with the Milwaukee Bucks in a span of three nights an opportunity to prepare his team for the postseason.
The Cavs responded by showing how they could bounce back and produce the kind of adjustments they’d need to make in a playoff series.
Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points, Jarrett Allen had 24 points and 14 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Bucks 112-100 on Friday night for their ninth win in their last 10 games. The Cavs gained a measure of revenge after their eight-game winning streak ended with a 126-116 loss at Milwaukee on Wednesday.
“You want to prepare for it as if it’s a playoff game and use it as practice,” Bickerstaff said. “We still have young guys who haven’t played a ton of playoff basketball. We want to give them that experience. How we studied, how we prepared, what we did yesterday, what happened at shootaround, we wanted to use it as kind of a dry run for us, so to speak, for what a playoff game would look like.”
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo had 22 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to end his string of two straight triple-doubles.
The game Wednesday took place one night after the Bucks had fired Adrian Griffin as coach.
Joe Prunty, an assistant on Griffin’s staff, worked as interim head coach for those two games. The Bucks announced in the final minute of Friday’s game that they have hired Doc Rivers as Griffin’s permanent replacement.
Cleveland Cavaliers’ Sam Merrill (5) shoots against Milwaukee Bucks’ Khris Middleton (22) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, in Milwaukee. Credit: AP/Aaron Gash
Damian Lillard scored 22 points for the Bucks, while Brook Lopez had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
After trailing 104-88 with four minutes left, the Bucks cut the lead to 106-100 on Lillard’s free throws with 1:39 remaining. Caris LeVert sank a 3-pointer 23 seconds later, and the Cavs wouldn’t look back.
“We felt like a step…
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