Cavaliers at Bucks
THE STORY: Two of the league’s more disappointing teams this season meet at Bradley Center. The Bucks will miss the playoffs after being a preseason favorite to win the Central Division. They’ll also be without Andrew Bogut, who will miss the rest of the season with an elbow injury. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, have only recently shown signs of recovering after losing 26 in a row and 36 of 37 at one point this season.
TV: 8:30 p.m.ET, Fox Sports Ohio
ABOUT THE BUCKS (32-47): Milwaukee’s miserable season got a little worse Friday when Andrew Bogut confirmed he’d miss the rest of the season because of his injured right elbow. Bogut will have arthroscopic surgery on the elbow soon, performed by noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews. It’s just another blow to a crushing season that began with high hopes and ends in a flurry of injuries, ineffectiveness and missed goals. The Bucks have been erratic all season, particularly lately. Just in the last two weeks, they’ve beaten playoff-bound teams Philadelphia and Miami and lost to Charlotte and Detroit, a pair of teams getting a jump start on their summers. They got 31 points from Brandon Jennings, but fell at Detroit 110-100 Friday to drop two of their last three. One sliver of good news: Ersan Ilyasova scored 18 points in his first game since Feb. 23. Ilyasova missed the last 21 games with concussion symptoms.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (17-62): Friday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls dropped the Cavs even with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the league’s worst record. The Cavs are already the first team in league history to lose 60 games one year after winning 60, now they’re trying to avoid becoming the first team in history to go from the league’s best record to the worst. Semih Erden played 11 minutes on Friday in his first game since March 6. He has been sidelined by groin and shoulder injuries, but the Cavs are hopeful he’ll be available now for the final couple of games. Rookie Samardo Samuels’ fate isn’t as clear. Samuels has missed the last three games with a strained groin and doesn’t seem close to returning. The Cavs are 3-4 since Baron Davis was inserted as the starting point guard.
WHO'S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Cleveland’s J.J. Hickson has eight double-doubles in his last 10 games. He is averaging 22 points and 14.7 rebounds in his last three games. Rookie Luke Harangody missed all five of his shots off the bench Friday and has made 2 of his last 12. Milwaukee’s Brandon Jennings exploded for 31 points Friday, just the second time since the start of December that Jennings has scored at least 30 points. Carlos Delfino wet scoreless after missing all seven of his attempts on Friday. He is shooting 24 percent (12 of 50) over his last six games.
KEY STATISTIC: The Cavs and Bucks are two of the league’s worst offensive teams. The Cavs average 95.3 points to rank 25th, while the Bucks are the league’s worst offensive team, averaging 91.3 points per game.
SEASON SERIES: The Bucks have taken two of the three games against the Cavaliers, including a 110-90 home win on March 9 and a 102-88 road victory on Jan. 21.
KEY INJURIES: CLEVELAND: F Samardo Samuels (groin). MILWAUKEE: F Jon Brockman (shoulder); C Andrew Bogut (elbow); G John Salmons (head).
LAST WORD: “Look, it starts with me. Nobody’s had a good year. Not a player, not the coach, nobody.” – Bucks coach Scott Skiles, when asked to assess Andrew Bogut’s season now that it is over.