Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Milwaukee Bucks – NBA preview
Primed by the motivation of not ending up as the league’s worst team, the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center on Friday night. The Bucks are leading the season series 2-1.
After winning two games in a row, the Cavaliers lost to the Chicago Bulls on Friday and dropped into a tie with Minnesota Timberwolves for the weakest team of the season, with a 17-62 record. Cleveland didn’t make the life easy
for the visiting Bulls though. Their star forward J.J. Hickson had another impressive night and racked up a team-high 22 points and gathered 15 rebounds.
Baron Davis landed 10 points but to repeat his heroics from the previous two games as the Bulls went on to claim a 93-82 victory. Carlos Boozer led Chicago with a game-high 24 points.
Cleveland Coach Byron Scott thought the team didn’t perform as expected and said after the game. "We did not help ourselves. They are a very good team, but we didn't do a very good job of taking care of the ball."
If the Cleveland finishes as the league’s worst team, it would increase their chances to get the No.1 pick for this year’s draft. However, the team is determined for a better finish. Their drive is further help by a relatively
weak itinerary as they will face Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards after Milwaukee.
The Cavaliers however hold a very poor record away from home. The team has managed to win only six games out of 39 road meetings this season. Their recent run of form has been impressive though and they have a very good chance
to win if J.J. Hickson gets going. Hickson has been firing on all cylinders off late and is averaging 21.6 points and 11.6 rebounds in the last seven games.
On the other hand, the Bucks lost their last game against the Detroit Pistons at Palace of Auburn Hills on Friday night. Chris Wilcox landed a season-high 27 points to outshine Milwaukee for an electrifying 110-100 victory. Brandon
Jennings racked up a game-high 31 points for Milwaukee, however his super effort was subjugated by the home team in the end.
The star of the night Jennings said after the defeat."Our defense wasn't as good as a team tonight. We kind of let them get easy buckets and we really weren't rotating like we usually do and they were able to counter it."
With that defeat, the Bucks also failed to clinch a playoff berth in this year’s playoffs. Presently they hold the ninth spot in the East with 32 wins and 47 defeats. In the last 10, the Bucks have managed to win four and dropped
six games, but against an opponent of Cavaliers calbre they stand out as the clear favourites.
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