|
 Varejao scored nine points in 11 minutes, LeBron James had 27
points, nine rebounds and six assists while forward Kevin Love had
22 points and 15 rebounds in the Cavaliers' 115-100 win over the
Milwaukee Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a career-high 33 points for the Bucks,
who trailed by as many as 21 in the first half.
Varejao has battled injuries throughout his career and is out of the
rotation now, buried in a deep frontcourt that includes Kevin Love,
Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson. When Mozgov missed the second
half with a strained right shoulder Thursday, Varejao stepped in
running pick-and-roll with LeBron James and hitting elbow jumpers
like the good old days. Varejao played a total of 14 minutes the
last five games and already has more DNP-CDs this year (two) than
he's had in the last 10 years.
"It's not easy. It's really tough because as a player you want to
play, especially when you feel like you're not done, like you can
still play," Varejao said. "The main thing is to stay ready and I
was able to help the team."
The Cavs finished the game without four of their top eight rotation
players. They started the night without starting point guard Kyrie
Irving (knee surgery), starting shooting guard Iman Shumpert (wrist
surgery) and backup Mo Williams, who was a surprise scratch with a
sore right leg.
Matthew Dellavedova stepped in for Williams and registered a
career-high 13 assists. Mozgov, who has been slowed by a problematic
right knee, will be re-evaluated Friday and could have an MRI or
X-ray.
"Andy really gave us a lift," coach David Blatt said. "Andy was one
of the main reasons we won the game."
Antetokounmpo got off to a fast start with 12 points in the first
and missed just three shots all night. Center Greg Monroe had 17
points and eight rebounds while Khris Middleton scored 15 points.
The Bucks trailed 63-42 on a dunk by Tristan Thompson late in the
first half. Thompson finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds off the
bench.
The Cavs spent the game's last nine-plus minutes in the bonus, while
the Bucks didn't draw their first foul in the fourth quarter until
8:27 remained.
"We were in the bonus for them very early, so that put us behind,"
Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "Especially if you're playing from
behind, you can't give the team the opportunity to get to the
free-throw line when they want to and that's what happened tonight."
After a few days of James publicly ripping his team's play and an
uncomfortable 45-minute film session Wednesday that exposed a lot of
what the Cavs have done wrong the last few games, Cleveland
responded the way both James and coach David Blatt wanted -- at
least in the first half.
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The Cavs maintained a 63-48 lead at the half before nearly giving it
all back. The Bucks missed just six shots in the third quarter while
Antetokounmpo, Monroe and Middleton combined for 22 of their 31
points to trim the deficit to 86-79 entering the fourth, but they
were crushed in rebounding 43-22.
It was a rare national television game for the Bucks, but
Antetokounmpo wasn't fazed by it after beating the Cavaliers at home
in double overtime last weekend.
"At home, we won against the best team in the world," he said. "The
other night was like a playoff atmosphere, so I didn't think about
being on (national television) at all."
The way Blatt and James have been talking the last few days, it
would seem as if the Cavs have a losing record instead of their
East-leading 9-3 mark. Both Blatt and James acknowledged, in their
own ways, that it's hardly time to panic. But there were bad habits
developing they want to squash now rather than later.
"I think our guys just understand and know that it's important for
us to develop the habits and the attitude and the approach, make
that part of us -- like it was last year from midseason on," Blatt
said. "It's not something you turn off and on, and I just think they
recognize the importance of that. It's an all-the-time thing, not a
sometimes thing or when we feel like we need it.
"There are times during the year that you have to take stock and say
hey, wait a minute, this needs to be better or this needs to be
corrected. And this might be one of those times."
NOTES: Thursday marked the first time the Bucks played with a full
roster of 15 healthy bodies. ... The Bucks were averaging 12.6
turnovers in victories compared with 17.3 turnovers in losses.
Similarly, they're allowing just 93.2 points in wins compared with
110.5 points in losses. ... Cavs F Tristan Thompson appeared in his
300th consecutive game, the second-longest streak in the league
behind the Clippers' DeAndre Jordan (332 entering Thursday).
Thompson is the fourth Cavs player to appear in 300 straight games,
according to Elias Sports Bureau, joining Jim Chones (361), Austin
Carr (351) and Danny Ferry (301). ...Cavs G J.R. Smith had an X-ray
on his right hand recently after it swelled up. Smith said it
revealed a broken bone in the thumb he never knew he had. It healed
on its own and Smith said team doctors don't know when it occurred
or how long ago, but it still swells up occasionally when the hand
gets hit.
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