Bucks at Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are enduring their first losing streak of the season and star LeBron James is questioning the team’s intensity level. The Cavaliers will try to avoid a third straight setback when they host the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.
"We didn't win anything,” James told reporters after a 104-99 loss at the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday. “We lost. We lost in the Finals. So that's enough motivation for myself. I think we need to understand that. Like, we lost in the Finals. We didn't win. And the team that beat us (the undefeated Golden State Warriors) looks more hungry than we are. So it shouldn't be that way." James totaled 67 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists in the last two games, which dropped Cleveland’s Eastern Conference-best record to 8-3. The Bucks handed the Cavaliers a 108-105 double-overtime loss on Saturday but came down hard from that high with a 115-86 loss at Washington to begin the three-game road trip. “For a young team, we're still a long ways away from the mental side of our game being at the level of the best teams in this league," Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd told reporters.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE BUCKS (5-6): Milwaukee forced Cleveland into 20 turnovers on Saturday – seven by James – and had seven players score in double figures in the win. The Bucks could not muster the same effort on the defensive end Tuesday and struggled in the frontcourt, where starters Greg Monroe and Giannis Antetokounmpo combined for 13 points on 4-of-19 shooting. Monroe’s four-point, five-rebound performance marked his worst effort of the season and ended a string of three straight double-doubles.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (8-3): James and coach David Blatt are giving Cleveland similar messages while both wonder how to kick start the fire. "We need to toughen up," Blatt told reporters. "I didn't think we displayed the kind of toughness that made us a team last year. I didn't see that the last two games, and we need to toughen up - every aspect." The Cavaliers are 5-0 at home, where they will play their next three games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Milwaukee won its last trip to Cleveland, 96-80 on Dec. 31.
2. Bucks SF Jabari Parker (foot) sat out Monday and could miss the whole road trip.
3. James has gone for 30 or more points in each of the last four games and five of six.