Cleveland Cavaliers cruise past Milwaukee Bucks, Joel Embiid shines in Philadelphia 76ers’ win

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers delivered a reality check to newly crowned NBA (National Basketball Association) Cup champions Milwaukee on Dec 20, dominating the Bucks 124-101 at home to push their league-best record to 24-4.

Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points and Darius Garland added 16 for the Cavs, who led by as many as 36 points as the Bucks (14-12) struggled in the absence of injured guard Damian Lillard.

After the victory, Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson was pleased about his squad depth – on top of all, five starters scoring in double figures – and he sees it as a good problem to have.

“It seems like we got 13, 14 rotation players – but we had an injury, so everything has kind of worked out, where guys are just getting minutes, and we play a lot of guys,” he said.

“But that conversation’s coming. It’s got to come soon, because guys are going to see their minutes aren’t what they normally have been – and that’s hard.

“Everyone can easily say they deserve their minutes. We have the best record in the league so ‘Why shouldn’t I keep playing my minutes?’ But with Max (Strus) back, we’re going to have those conversations individually and as a team.”

The Cavaliers, winners of seven of their last eight games, improved to 15-1 at home and got good news with the season debut of Strus – who had been sidelined with hip and ankle injuries.

He scored nine points in 19min 7sec off the bench for Cleveland and drilled three of their 20 three-pointers.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, who led the Bucks to victory in the NBA Cup final against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec 17, scored 33 points, with 14 rebounds and three steals.

Khris Middleton, back from illness, scored 14 points off the bench for Milwaukee, but starting guards Andre Jackson Jr and AJ Green were a combined 0 for 9 from the field, neither contributing a point.

“We did it on both ends of the floor,” Mitchell said especially of the Cavs’ defence.

“We set the tone, offensively, defensively. Knowing they had a long trip back (we were) trying to get going early, push the pace, and we did it for 48 minutes.”

Bucks coach Doc Rivers, who had called it “weird” to pick up regular-season action after playing the semi-finals and final of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, said the game was not a good gauge of where his team are.

“We were flat, tired, whatever you want to call it,” he said.

“There’s no read on tonight’s game... give them all the credit.”

In Philadelphia, star 76ers centre Joel Embiid wore a protective mask as he returned after missing one game because of a sinus fracture to score 34 points in a 108-98 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

The Cameroonian added five rebounds, nine assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

Tyrese Maxey scored 23 points and Kelly Oubre Jr added 22 for Philadelphia (9-16), who notched their fourth win in five games as they try to climb into the race for a play-in berth.

The Thunder (22-5) bounced back after losing to the Bucks in the NBA Cup final, notching their second victory since then, beating the Heat 104-97 in Miami.

Jalen Williams scored 33 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 25 for Oklahoma City, who were coming off a victory over the Orlando Magic on Dec 19.

Tyler Herro scored 28 points and had 12 rebounds to lead the Heat, but Miami clearly missed the contribution of star forward Jimmy Butler, who departed in the first quarter and was ruled out for the rest of the game because of illness.

Miami’s Bam Adebayo departed briefly in the third quarter after taking an accidental elbow over his left eye. He returned after receiving seven stitches and finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. AFP