Bucks at Cavaliers
Few would have thought before the season started that, come the first day of December, the Cleveland Cavaliers would be staring up at the Milwaukee Bucks in the Central Division standings. But that’s the scenario heading into their meeting Tuesday night in Cleveland, as Milwaukee begins the month a half-game better than the well-stocked Cavaliers. The Bucks finished with the worst record in the NBA a year ago at 15-67.
The Cavaliers are, no doubt, playing much better than they were two weeks ago, when they spiraled into a four-game losing streak. They’ve bounced back with three consecutive victories, blowing out to big early leads and not letting up. Much of the improvement can be attributed to power forward Kevin Love, who’s averaging 21 points over the last four games while shooting 58 percent from the floor.
TV: 7 p.m., FSN Ohio (Cleveland), FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
ABOUT THE BUCKS (10-8): Milwaukee had its three-game winning streak ended Saturday against a Houston Rockets team that was down three injured starters. The Bucks could be thin up front again as Zaza Pachulia missed the Houston game following the death of his grandmother and fellow reserve center John Henson has been sidelined with a foot injury, which would leave added pressure on starter Larry Sanders to avoid foul trouble. Rookie small forward Jabari Parker played one of his best all-around games against the Rockets, totaling 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (8-7): Kyrie Irving has been playing with some extra zeal lately as well, evident by the career-high-tying 10 rebounds and three blocks he accumulated with his 24 points in Saturday’s win against the visiting Indiana Pacers. He’s scored at least 20 points in eight of the last 10 games, and that stretch doesn’t include the season-high 34 he scored Nov. 5 against the Utah Jazz. Even with Irving and Love playing so well, LeBron James hasn’t let up, averaging 24.6 points and 7.6 assists in the month of November.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. James is averaging 37.4 minutes, which would represent a career low for a full season.
2, Cleveland C Anderson Varejao remains questionable with a rib contusion that kept him out of Saturday’s game.
3. Parker leads all rookies in scoring (11.9) and ranks second in rebounding (6.1) and steals (1.3).
PREDICTION: Cavaliers 108, Bucks 101