James can’t push Cavs over hump in Milwaukee
Club nearly erases 20-point deficit but Bucks escape 119-116.
LeBron James MILWAUKEE — swore this had happened before, a game in which he spent most of the fourth quarter on the bench while his teammates dug their way out of a huge hole.
And it’s hard to say too much against Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue’s decision to leave James on the bench for the first 8:22 of the fourth quarter Tuesday night, given that the lineup he had on the court erased a 20-point deficit to the Milwaukee Bucks.
“It was the perfect way to do it,” James said. “It was perfect.”
The Cavs ultimately lost, 119-116, to the Bucks, though James scored nine points over the final 3:38 and 39 total.
He nearly stole the ball from Giannis Antetokounmpo with about seven seconds left, and instead Antetokounmpo converted a layup and free throw with 5.9 seconds left for a 118113 lead.
Naturally, James gave his team yet another small chance to win by burying a 3 with 1.4 seconds left.
Before all that, though, before Lue turned back to James, who would finish with six 3-pointers and seven assists, he rode Dwyane Wade, Kyle Korver, Jeff Green, Tristan Thompson, and Jae Crowder for the duration of the comeback.
That group peeled off runs of 19-0 and 24-2 over a span of more than seven minutes. Wade and Green each scored nine in the period.
Lue didn’t get James off the bench until the Cavs turned it over and Wade missed a 3 as the shot clock expired on consecutive possessions, and Malcolm Brogdon snapped the Bucks’ 5:59 scoring drought with a 3-pointer with 3:39 left.
Timeout Cavs. Enter James.
“The momentum, it’s that simple,” James said. “We started the fourth quarter down, I don’t know how many (15 points). They had the momentum, they was playing well. Just let them keep going. I mean, why not? We’re all professionals.
“Everybody that was on the court has been in games where they came back and had to close out. Whenever they needed me, I was ready to go back.”
James was whooping it up on the sideline while the Cavs fought back.
Wade hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions for a 107-105 advantage, thus erasing the 20-point deficit, and the Bucks called timeout.
Wade said James told the five guys on the court to stay in the game.
“He was like ‘no, no, you guys got it going, stay with it,’ “Wade said.
Lue didn’t explicitly address leaving James on the bench for as long as he did.
He said the fourth-quarter group he stuck with “was able to get stops, get out in transition.
“Kyle and (Thompson) really worked well together coming off a shot or making that extra pass and it was just good to see those guys play well together,” Lue said.
As for James’ near steal on Antetokounmpo, James said he tipped the ball from the Bucks star but watched it roll through his own legs. Antetokounmpo scooped it up behind James and laid it in while he was fouled by Korver.
“I know I tipped it and I knew we had a chance to get it but once it went between my legs there was no way I could’ve, unless I squat like my daughter and I can’t do that,” James said.