Irving, James lead Cavaliers past Bucks
CLEVELAND -- Kyrie Irving scored 31 points and passed for a career-high 13 assists, while LeBron James scored 29 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 113-102 victory against Milwaukee, their second win against the Bucks in 24 hours.
With Kevin Love again sidelined by a knee injury, James and Irving logged heavy minutes one night after James played 47 and Irving 45 in Tuesday's victory at Milwaukee.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue was originally inclined to rest Irving and James, but both insisted they felt great and James' trainer, Mike Mancias, signed off on it. So Lue ran them both back out there and they did what stars do -- they won the Cavs the game.
Tristan Thompson grabbed 15 rebounds on a night James and Irving combined for 60 points, 19 assists and 15 rebounds. This time, Lue limited James to 34 minutes and Irving to 35.
It was the Cavs' first appearance knowing J.R. Smith would be out an extended period of time. Smith fractured his right thumb in Tuesday's victory at Milwaukee and will require surgery, but the Cavs still exceeded their season average (13.5) for 3-pointers per game with 15 on Wednesday.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points and Jabari Parker scored 27 on a night the Bucks relied just as heavily on their stars. Rookie Malcolm Brogdon scored 11 off the Bucks' bench.
Irving scored 14 points in the third quarter and passed for at least 12 assists in two of his last three games. He combined with James to score 10 of the Cavs' final 13 points of the third, extending an eight-point lead to 92-77 entering the fourth.
Richard Jefferson scored 10 points starting in place of Love and was ejected in the game's final minutes after he got tied up with Thon Maker. Jefferson threw Maker to the ground for his first technical, and was given another when he wouldn't stop arguing. Jefferson stomped off the court and flung his jersey into the stands on his way to the locker room.
NOTES: Former Cavs G Matthew Dellavedova received his championship ring before tipoff. "There's a lot of great memories here," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "For Delly to receive his ring, that's well deserved. He's been waiting a while for that. It's an emotional night for him." ... The Bucks began the night with six games of more than 50 rebounds. They accomplished that three times all of last season. ... Milwaukee returns home to host Washington on Friday. ... G DeAndre Liggins started at shooting guard for the Cavs in place of J.R. Smith, who is expected to miss at least a month with his fractured right thumb. ... Coach Tyronn Lue expects Kevin Love (knee) to return for Friday's home game against Brooklyn.