James leads Cavaliers to OT victory over Bucks
MILWAUKEE -- LeBron James hit a 33-footer with 24 seconds left in overtime and scored 34 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 114-108 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night at the Bradley Center.
Cleveland shot 40.7 percent but hit 17 of 40 3-pointers while Milwaukee made only 7 of 26 attempts from beyond the arc while shooting 46.5 percent.
The Cavaliers also got 28 from Kyrie Irving and 15 off the bench from Channing Frye.
Jabari Parker led Milwaukee with 30 points while Giannis Antetokounmpo added 25 and John Henson finished with 14
Cleveland's J.R. Smith had a relatively quiet night, scoring six points on a pair of 3-pointers, but left the game late in the third quarter after suffering an injury to his right thumb and did not return.
The Bucks shot 61.9 percent in the opening quarter but still trailed by as many as 15 as the Cavs sank five of their first seven 3-pointers. Milwaukee fell behind by 18 in the second but closed the quarter strong and pulled to within four at the break behind 16 from Parker and 10 from Henson.
Antetokounmpo had only seven in the first half but made a pair of free throws with 8:15 left in the third to tie the game at 62. The Bucks pulled ahead by four but came up empty on three straight possessions and Cleveland evened the score at 71 on a driving layup from Irving with 4:36 left in the quarter.
Antetokounmpo hit 3-points on back-to-back possessions to get Milwaukee within two with 6:37 to play. An Irving 3-pointer with 2:32 to play put the Cavs up 100-93, but a short bucket from Greg Monroe and a 3-pointer from Tony Snell made it 100-98 with 47.3 seconds remaining.
Henson rejected James with just under 30 seconds to go. Cleveland missed two attempts on the ensuing possession with Henson grabbing the rebound of Channing Frye's missed layup, giving the Bucks the ball with 22.1 seconds to play.
Parker tied the game at 100 on a driving baseline layup and Irving missed a 28-footer, forcing overtime.
Antetokounmpo had six points in the extra session, but fouled out with 28.1 seconds remaining.
NOTES: Cavaliers F Kevin Love was unavailable Tuesday because of a left leg contusion suffered Saturday against the Lakers. Richard Jefferson started in place of Love. Jefferson spent the 2008-09 season with Milwaukee, averaging 19.6 points while starting all 82 games. ... Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd used the same starting lineup for a 12th consecutive game, but the Bucks were without reserve F Michael Beasley, who missed his third straight contest because of a sprained left foot. ... Bucks opponents are shooting among the lowest percentages in the NBA this season, as Milwaukee ranks second in opponent 3-point percentage and third in opponent field goal percentage. ... Milwaukee cruised to a 118-101 victory over the Cavs on Nov. 29 in the first meeting of the season.