All you need is Love
Cavs big man finds cure for Cleveland spiral; Pelicans triumph as Davis, Cousins overpower Pacers
CKevin Love joked that he might swing by the hospital on his way home. On a recent visit, he got a dose of something that made him and the Cavaliers feel better.
Love scored a season-high 32 points without attempting a three-pointer, LeBron James added 30 following an interesting couple days on social media, and Cleveland withstood a 40-point performance by Giannis Antetokounmpo to beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 124-119, on Tuesday night.
And they weren’t the only 30-point pair in the NBA.
In Indianapolis, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins took over when New Orleans were in trouble and led the Pelicans to a 117-112 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
Davis finished with 37 points and 14 rebounds while Cousins added 32 points and 13 boards.
“I think our talent is different than a lot of bigs—there’s so many ways we can dominate a game,” Cousins said. “And I think we’re just scratching the surface right now. We can get so much better.”
Davis was 14 for 18 from the field in New Orleans’ third straight win. Cousins also had six assists.
“We’ve been doing this almost all season,” Davis said. “It’s all the other guys (on this team) that make mine and DeMarcus’ jobs easy.”
The Cavs have been one of the NBA’s biggest surprises this season—for all the wrong reasons. But after losing five of six, they did enough to hand the young-and-improving Bucks their fourth straight loss and keep Cleveland fans from panicking.
Love was briefly hospitalized after scoring just four points and leaving a surprising loss to Atlanta in the third quarter on Sunday. Following his best game this season, Cleveland’s center was asked what IV medications he received.
“I don’t know,” he said with a smile. “Whatever they gave me I might go back and check myself in tonight.”
Love added 16 rebounds. JR Smith found his stroke and added a season-high 20 points for the Cavs.
“That’s my guy,” James said of Smith, who went 5 of 7 on threepointers while wearing a model of James’ sneakers. “Swish is my guy and he’s been struggling the first 10 games. I told him it was the shoes. He finally decided to wear my shoes. After a long conversation we finally decided to wear them and he had a breakout game.
“He hit the three-ball, got into the paint. That was Swish. We’re gonna need more of that from him a lot coming up.”
Still a few weeks shy of his 23rd birthday, the multitalented Antetokounmpo finished 16 of 21 from the floor. He also had nine rebounds and eight turnovers before fouling out with 18 seconds left.
Before the game, the Bucks got some scoring help by acquiring guard Eric Bledsoe from Phoenix in exchange for forward/center Greg Monroe and two draft picks.
Afterward, coach Jason Kidd complained about the officiating. Milwaukee was called for 31 personals compared to 18 for Cleveland, and the Cavs attempted 38 free throws.