3 takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks’ blowout loss to Cleveland Cavaliers

The Milwaukee Bucks get mixed results from their veterans in the loss to Cleveland Cavaliers

With so many typical rotation pieces out, the Bucks would rely heavily on the veterans that were available to play. This specifically revolved around four players in Pat Connaughton, Semi Ojeleye, George Hill, and DeMarcus Cousins, who had differing levels of impact in the contest.

Both Connaughton and Ojeleye struggled mightily in this one. Connaughton could not throw a rock into the ocean for most of the night as he shot just 1-of-6 from the floor, missing both of his shots from behind the arc. He tallied just three points in less than 20 minutes. Ojeleye made his way into the lineup after a recent calf injury kept him out for several weeks, and he looked justifiably rusty on the offensive end. He shot just 1-of-7 from the field on the night, including 1-of-4 from deep, as he could not find a groove. The forward did prove to be impactful on the glass by pulling down seven rebounds, but the Bucks needed more from him offensively.

Elsewhere, Hill and Cousins left their marks on the game as well. Hill played one of his best games this year by tallying 14 points on 63.6 percent field goal shooting. In addition to his sweet scoring, Hill dished out four assists to get his teammates involved. Surprisingly, Hill was the only Buck to finish with a positive +/- on the night, tallying a +8. Hopefully this performance can help him find a groove moving forward, as the Bucks could use some solid production from Hill after a slow start. The same goes for Cousins, who notched his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. While it was not an efficient 12 points, Cousins impacted the game with his scoring and provided a boost on the glass with the Bucks shorthanded. He normally will not play 27 minutes a night.

The Bucks needed these four to step up if they had any chance to win this game, and the results varied among them.