Cavaliers at Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks already clinched their playoff spot and the Central Division, but the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference and the best record in the NBA are still up for grabs. The Bucks will try to take another step toward both of those goals when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.
Milwaukee got superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (ankle) back from a two-game absence on Friday and again looked like a team that could challenge for an NBA title with a 116-87 victory over the Miami Heat in a possible first-round preview. "It's great to have close to a full complement of players," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters. "You see the difference. Guys just kind of slide into their roles and everybody just excelled tonight. Hopefully we can keep working, stay healthy and get more of this." The Cavaliers, who knocked off Milwaukee 107-102 at home on Wednesday with Antetokounmpo sidelined, won't be a pushover despite their position at the bottom of the standings and pushed the Los Angeles Clippers to the end in a 110-108 setback on Friday. "It's been good to see ourselves play well against teams that are fighting for playoff spots, that are in the playoffs, that are going to play postseason basketball," Cleveland forward Kevin Love told reporters. "So, I think it's good. This is something that we wanted to finish the season (doing), and I think it's good to take those strides in the right direction whether we win or we lose, so long as we're fighting to get better."
TV: 4:30 p.m. ET, FS Ohio (Cleveland), FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (19-54): Cleveland is closing in on one of the three worst records in the NBA and the best odds at the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery but is not tanking as the season draws to a close. "Actually, they are playing for something, it's called pride," Cavaliers coach Larry Drew told reporters of his players. "When you get in this situation, it's easy to roll over. But the one thing I want these guys to understand is that you gotta take the bitter with the sweet. Sometimes it's not going to be the way you want it to be or how you hope it would be, but you still have to play through it. You have to play through tough times. You have to play through adversity." Rookie point guard Collin Sexton is taking advantage of the end of the season and went 9-of-15 from the floor on Friday to run his streak of 20-plus efforts to eight straight.
ABOUT THE BUCKS (54-19): Milwaukee sits three games ahead of the Toronto Raptors in the East and four games up on the West-leading Golden State Warriors entering play on Saturday. "Playing at home, especially here where our fans are amazing, we don't lose games at home easily," Antetokounmpo told reporters. "So, whoever we play, if we start at home, I think we're going to have a good chance to win the series. If we play Toronto, the Warriors, whatever team we play we'll have a good chance winning at home." Antetokounmpo collected 27 points on 12-of-19 shooting, eight rebounds and seven assists in 28 minutes in Friday's win.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Bucks SF Khris Middleton recorded 18 points and 10 assists on Friday for his third straight double-double.
2. Cavaliers SF Cedi Osman is 5-of-17 from the floor over the last two games after going 15-of-30 over the previous two contests.
3. Milwaukee won two meetings in December before falling at Cleveland on Wednesday.