Dribbles: Cavs Again Show What Very Best Can Do In Trouncing Bucks

December 20, 2024

CLEVELAND — Random dribbles from the Cavaliers’ 124-101 home rout of the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday. …

1. That was about as good as it gets. And the Cavs have been really good. So the fact they were as good as they’ve ever been this season is really saying something.

2. Everything that’s right with the Cavs (24-4) came shining through — ball movement, depth, effort, shooting, you name it. All was on display.

3. The Cavs are coming off a fairly decent break, playing just their third game in about three weeks. In the last two, they’ve looked like absolute world-beaters, practically unstoppable.

4. And it doesn’t really seem to matter who’s on the court. It’s just clicking.

5. In this one, the Cavs built a 69-51 lead at halftime and were never close to threatened after that. Donovan Mitchell (27 points, six assists) was dyn-o-mite. Everyone else was just a notch below that.

6. Don’t ask me what the word is for a notch below dyn-o-mite — just know that Darius Garland scored 16, and Evan Mobley and Dean Wade each had 15. They were steady, solid, and just overall winners.

7. Wade gave one of his top two or three showings of the season, as he also helped keep Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo (33 points) from scoring 72.

8. Wade was 5-of-6 from the field. So was Jarrett Allen (10 points, 10 rebounds). Mobley was 6-of-10, Mitchell 9-of-15. Ty Jerome (13 points) was 5-of-9 in reserve. Overall, the Cavs were 46-of-90 from the field (51.1 percent) and 20-of-46 on 3-pointers (a sizzling 43.5 percent).

9. Oh by the way, Max Strus also made his season debut, scoring nine points off three threes, all in the third quarter. “It was just fun to play again, fun to be back out there,” Strus said. “Adrelin is a funny thing.”

10. Strus also joked about his teammates during his lengthy absence. “I hadn’t heard from any of them,” he said, smiling. “I think they forgot I was on the team.”

11. Everyone sure remembers now, especially when it comes to what Strus can bring to a squad that’s already cooking. That would be grit, effort, and more perimeter shooting. As if the Cavs really needed more.

12. But seriously. It’s like the best team in the league just got a first-round draft pick. Except this one comes with meaningful NBA playoff experience.

13. Coach Kenny Atkinson was pleased with what he saw from Strus. “He’s like in turbo — cuts, coming off the staggers, and got to see a few threes go down,” Atkinson said. “The guy works so hard in practice, it’s almost like the games come easy for him.”

14. Now for the not-so-amazing news, and it comes from the Good Problem To Have Department. Eventually, someone will have to lose some minutes. It may not be the same guy every night. But it will be someone.

15. There are only so many minutes to go around. And Strus deserves plenty. (So does Isaac Okoro when he returns from a shoulder injury.) Atkinson said he knows all this.

16. The coach on that very topic: “It seems like we have 13, 14 rotation players. So that conversation (about minutes) is coming and it’s coming soon. With Max back, we’ll need to have those conversations.”

17. For now, the only conversation the Cavs need to have is how to keep this really good thing going. Against the NBA Cup champion Bucks (14-12), they passed for 30 assists and forced Milwaukee into 20 turnovers. The entire fourth quarter turned into pure garbage time.

18. Afterward, the players were all smiles and laughs in the locker room. It’s an ongoing theme to the season. “They enjoy making fun of each other, which is the sign of a good locker room,” Atkinson said. “… That’s the spirit of this group. They’re connected.”

19. The Cavaliers are tied for the best start in franchise history with the 2008-09 team of LeBron James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao and others. That squad was coached by Mike Brown and finished 66-16.

20. So here we are. Things are going as smoothly as ever. Cleveland is back at it again Saturday, hosting the Philadelphia 76ers, who have struggled to a disappointing start with injuries and inconsistency. The bad news for them is the Cavaliers have a way of making everyone look bad.