Milwaukee @ Cleveland preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 20, 2017 ) Cleveland 116, Milwaukee 97

The Cleveland Cavaliers snapped a four-game losing streak by jumping on LeBron James' back on Friday, but they learned on Sunday that can't be an every-game occurrence. The Cavaliers will try to get their star some help and avoid another loss when they host the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.

Cleveland went up against an Atlanta Hawks' squad that had dropped eight in a row on Sunday and fell 117-115 at home, prompting Dwyane Wade to point the finger at the starting five. "It's no secret we're starting games off awful," Wade told reporters after scoring 25 points off the bench. "Terrible. ... And the effort or the focus just wasn't there to start off, and you try to battle back, you waste a lot of energy trying to come back from 16-18 down, and it's tough nightly to do this. ... It's no secret in this locker room, but our first unit, we got to start off better." The Bucks are enduring their own slump and limp in Cleveland losers of three in a row. "We've got to get stops defensively," veteran guard Jason Terry told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel after a 105-96 loss at Detroit on Friday. "We're built on defense and right now we're not playing much of it."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FSN Ohio (Cleveland)

ABOUT THE BUCKS (4-5): If there is an heir to James' throne as the best all-around player in the league, it could be Milwaukee small forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who can play all five positions and is just beginning to reach superstar status. The 22-year-old is averaging 31 points on 58.3 percent shooting, 9.9 rebounds, five assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.7 steals. Antetokounmpo is going through a bit of a slump during the three-game slide, averaging 23.7 points on 47.4 percent shooting, but went for 34 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in a 116-97 home loss to the Cavaliers on Oct. 20.

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (4-6): James followed up a 57-point outburst on Friday with 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting and 13 assists on Sunday, but agreed that Cleveland lacked energy. "The effort was pretty bad, and you turn the corner, but you can't fix it all in one game," James told reporters. "This has been going on for a while. We just have to figure it out." James was the only starter to score more than 10 points on Sunday as Kevin Love, Jae Crowder, Derrick Rose and J.R. Smith combined for 25 points on 9-of-29 shooting.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Love (illness) was removed from Sunday's game and taken to the Cleveland Clinic, and he is day-to-day.

2. Bucks PG Malcolm Brogdon averaged 20.5 points on 17-of-29 shooting in the last two games.

3. Cleveland took the last four and seven of eight in the series.

PREDICTION: Bucks 110, Cavaliers 103