The Milwaukee Bucks aimed to keep their undefeated record against divisional opponents alive against the Cleveland Cavaliers Saturday night.
Of course, these two teams faced off the night before, and the Bucks won that game handily. History repeated itself as Milwaukee once again defeated Cleveland thanks to an all-around effort and a big second half. A solid 25-point differential helped Milwaukee picked up their 15th win of the season with a 124-99 victory over Cleveland and extended their current win streak to four games.
More from Bucks News
- Bucks 2023-24 player profile: Can MarJon Beauchamp take a leap?
- Piecing together the Milwaukee Bucks’ dream starting 5 in 5 years
- Predicting Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s 2023-24 stats for the Bucks
- Grade the trade: Bucks land reputable backup guard in swap with Pacers
- New workout video should have Milwaukee Bucks fans excited
The Bucks have been clicking in February, and they will need to sustain these recent efforts as they have four more games left on the schedule during their six-game trip.
Although the Bucks have looked good lately, they have not been the best team on the road this season, and they still have more work to do with four consecutive tough matchups ahead.
Before Milwaukee retakes the court on Monday to try and make it five straight wins in a row, here are three takeaways from Saturday’s impressive win in Cleveland.
First takeaway from win over Cleveland Cavaliers — Milwaukee Bucks keep their opponent in check from deep
That is a sentence that most fans are not used to hearing when it comes to the Bucks, particularly this year.
They have been notoriously bad at defending the 3-pointer for the past several seasons, but Saturday night proved to be a breath of fresh air. The Cavaliers went just 6-of-28 (21.4 percent) from behind the arc, which helped the Bucks blow the lead open and eventually win the game.
Milwaukee does not deserve all the credit for Cleveland’s lackluster shooting performance. Still, they certainly did their part on the defensive side of things to keep their opponent’s shooting from distance to a bare minimum.
After recently letting up a combined 42 triples against the New Orleans Pelicans and Charlotte Hornets, the Bucks have tightened up defensively in their past few matchups. While the Cavaliers were not the best 3-point shooting team heading into this doubleheader, letting up just 17 triples over two games is surely a positive sign for Milwaukee.
Second takeaway from win over Cleveland Cavaliers — Bryn Forbes sparks second unit offense for the Milwaukee Bucks
After hitting just seven 3-pointers Friday night, the Bucks looked rejuvenated in last night’s rematch. The Bucks went 16-of-34 (47.1 percent) from deep on the evening, and a sizeable portion of those triples coming from the sharpshooting Bryn Forbes.
Forbes showcased that he was not afraid to let it fly all night long, finishing the contest with 18 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting night from long-range.
The newcomer has had his inconsistencies coming off the bench for Milwaukee this season, but Forbes has been phenomenal in the month of February. In appearances off the bench, Forbes is averaging 14 points while shooting 54.8 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the perimeter and has sparked some much-needed offensive firepower.
It seems that Milwaukee’s back to back losses to close out January ignited a fire within Forbes. The guard talked about the displeasure in the locker room after dropping two games while also addressing how the team could get back on the right track as transcribed by ESPN’s Eric Woodyard:
"“I don’t think anybody’s happy about it, but we’ve got to take it day by day and I think that’s the way everybody’s approaching it, game by game. We can’t win them all back right now, but if we take it day by day, we can win a lot of games.”"
Since these comments, Milwaukee has flipped the switch and won four straight games. They are not satisfied just yet, but as Forbes alluded to, all they can do is take it just one game at a time. Last night, Forbes showed the impact that he can provide off the bench offensively, and the Bucks will need his contributions consistently moving forward.
Third takeaway from win over Cleveland Cavaliers — Milwaukee Bucks get a big night from their leading trio
Carrying on the trend of players having a fantastic February with the Bucks, their leading trio showed out Saturday night as they scored a combined 64 points to propel the team to victory.
As he oftentimes does, Giannis Antetokounmpo paved the way for Milwaukee with 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor. In addition to grabbing 11 rebounds, the Greek Freak showed off his playmaking capabilities as he dished out five assists. Antetokounmpo has been heating up recently, as he has finally started to get comfortable in the team’s new offensive scheme.
Khris Middleton followed close behind with 20 points of his own and continues to make his All-Star case with another highly-efficient performance. The two-time All-Star shot 8-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-5 from long distance. It was another top-tier performance in what has been a career-year for Middleton, and he continues to improve his game.
Last but certainly not least, point guard Jrue Holiday rounded things out for Milwaukee with another spectacular outing. He chimed in with 20 points of his own on 8-of-14 shooting (2-of-4 from deep) while also dishing out a team-high eight assists while racking up just one turnover. Holiday was also active defensively, logging two blocks and a steal in the contest.
These three have been playing fantastic basketball lately, which has seemingly been a team-wide feeling following those previous two losses.
With this one in the books, the Milwaukee Bucks will travel to face the Denver Nuggets in the third matchup of this six-game road trip. You can catch the action Monday night at 8:30 p.m. central time.