Cleveland Cavaliers vs Milwaukee Bucks Match Player Stats On Oct 20, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Oct 20, 2017

MILWAUKEE -- LeBron James scored 24 points and Kevin Love recorded his second double-double of the season as the Cleveland Cavaliers spoiled the Milwaukee Bucks' home opener with a 116-97 victory Friday night at the Bradley Center.

James, who admitted earlier in the week that he still wasn't fully recovered from a left ankle injury that limited him to one preseason game, played 37 minutes and hit 10 of 16 shots while dishing out eight assists.

Love had 17 points with 12 rebounds while Kyle Korver also finished with 17, hitting 5 of 6 of his 3-point attempts.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee (1-1) with 34 points on on 15-of-22 shooting with eight rebounds and eight assists, but the Bucks were held to 46.9 percent shooting and were 11-for-35 from beyond the arc.

Khris Middleton missed all four of his shots from distance while Mirza Teletovic hit only one of his four attempts.

Aside from Korver, Cleveland (2-0) struggled from long range as well, especially in the first half. The Cavaliers were 2-for-12 on 3s in the opening half and James was held to five points but an 11-for-11 effort from the free throw line and a 52.5 percent showing from the floor helped the Cavaliers take a 55-49 lead into halftime.

Milwaukee cut the deficit to a point after Thon Maker's 3-pointer made it a 64-63 game. The Cavs answered with a 7-0 run to go up 71-63 with 5:13 left in the quarter.

Antetokounmpo converted a three-point play to stop the bleeding, but Korver hit from distance on three straight possessions to put the Cavs up by a dozen as they closed the quarter with a 15-3 run and went into the fourth with an 86-73 lead.

Milwaukee got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

NOTES: The Cavaliers have won four straight and eight of their last 10 meetings with the Bucks. ... Milwaukee signed F Joel Bolomboy and F Cliff Alexander to two-way contracts. Both will join the Bucks' G-League affiliate this season. ... Cleveland has made at least 10 3-pointers in five consecutive games against Milwaukee. ... Both teams were kicking off their first back-to-back stretches of the season Friday. The Cavs return home to host Orlando on Saturday evening while Milwaukee will face Portland at the Bradley Center.