Milwaukee Bucks: 3 keys to victory when hosting Cleveland Cavaliers
The Milwaukee Bucks will close out their five-game homestand when the Cleveland Cavaliers come to town Saturday night at Fiserv Forum.
The Milwaukee Bucks will have a chance to wrap up their five-game homestand on a winning note when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers Saturday night at Fiserv Forum.
The Bucks are coming off a tough loss to the Utah Jazz in what ended up being a 131-118 defeat that derailed what had been a prefect homestand until Friday night. Now the Bucks will have a chance to rectify their step back last night.
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The Cavaliers, meanwhile, have emerged as one of the more pleasant surprises early on in this 2020-21 season.
Cleveland is fresh off of erasing a two-game skid by edging past the Memphis Grizzlies in a 94-90 victory Thursday night to put their record at 5-4 heading into Saturday night’s clash against the Bucks.
So without further ado, let’s look at the three biggest keys to a Milwaukee Bucks victory when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
First key – The Milwaukee Bucks stay poised against the league’s best defense
The Bucks have quite the task when their league-leading offense goes up against the league’s best defense Saturday night. Cleveland’s stingy defending has significantly contributed to their early season success in spite of having a -1.1 net rating, per NBA.com/stats.
The reasons behind the Cavaliers’ defensive resurgence are many, but holding a league-leading 19.8 opponent turnover ratio will certainly do the trick. By forcing their opponents to turn over the ball once in nearly every five possessions, the Cavaliers’ disciplined and frenetic defending has made a habit of routinely capitalizing off of their opponents’ miscues as evidenced by their league-best 22.2 points off turnovers per game.
Cleveland’s active and swarming defense could be especially troubling for a Bucks team that will be on the second night of a back-to-back. Being able to secure the ball and and making smart reads will be paramount for a Bucks team that will come into the game with heavy legs and a little banged up too (more on that in a minute).
Above all else, the clashing of styles between the Cavaliers’ grind-it-out style versus the Bucks’ up-tempo pace should make for an interesting watch once Saturday night’s game gets underway.