Champs answer call
James hits three-pointer to halt rally
It’s safe to say the Milwaukee Bucks got the attention of the champs.
Cleveland started with a purpose and finished with a flourish to hold off a determined Bucks bid, 114-108, in overtime Tuesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
LeBron James hit the game-winner as he buried a three-pointer with 24 seconds left in overtime and finished with 34 points to lead all scorers. Kyrie Irving added 28 points for Cleveland (20-6).
Jabari Parker led the Bucks (13-13) with 30 points and nine rebounds and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 25 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out in overtime. John Henson had 14 points and eight rebounds.
James scored seven points and Richard Jefferson added five as the Cavaliers outscored the Bucks, 14-8, in the extra 5-minute period. The teams will play again in Cleveland on Wednesday night with a short turnaround.
Parker had a chance to put the Bucks up by three points late in overtime but his shot spun out and Antetokounmpo fouled out trying to grab the rebound. James wrested it away from the Bucks player with 28.1 seconds left.
“It’s basketball,” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. “The ball just didn’t go down for us.
If the ball goes down, Giannis doesn’t get the sixth foul. Giannis had the ball, I thought for a minute. Then LeBron made a heck of a play to come up with the steal.”
Parker hit 13 of 25 field goals and 4 of 7 free throws, but he missed two fouls shots with a chance to tie the game after James’ clutch threepointer.
“Jabari was going and his teammates made a conscious effort to get him the ball,” Kidd said. “I thought he responded in a positive way by scoring the ball, finding guys, getting to the free throw line.
“He had a heck of a game for us tonight.”
Parker posted up on Iman Shumpert and scored to tie the game at 100 with 15.5 seconds left, and Irving missed a three-pointer in the final seconds.
The Bucks called two timeouts with one-tenth of a second left to try to set up a final play, and they could only throw a lob to the rim with that time remaining. But the Cavaliers prevented that strategy by putting two defenders on Parker, the inbounds passer.
The Cavaliers lost in their first game in Milwaukee this season, a 118-101 rout that caused coach Tyronn Lue to bench all his starters at one point in the third quarter.
Cleveland came out with purpose and streaked to an 18-point lead early in the second quarter, pushing its margin to 47-29 on a threepointer by Shumpert.
But the Bucks fought back and trimmed their deficit to 57-53 at halftime, behind Parker (16 points) and Henson (10 points).
The Cavaliers sank 8 of 15 three-pointers in the first half.
Milwaukee shot 54% (21 of 39) in the half but was just 2 for 9 from three-point range.
The Bucks had a fourpoint lead in the third quarter but Cleveland finished the quarter on a 17-7 run to take an 84-78 lead into the final quarter.
Antetokounmpo hit a pair of three-pointers midway through the fourth quarter, the second one bringing the Bucks within 91-89 with 6:47 left.
James sank a long three-pointer over Antetokounmpo to stretch the Cavaliers’ lead to 97-91 with 4 minutes left.
But the Bucks rallied from a 100-93 deficit by scoring the last seven points in regulation. A hook shot by Greg Monroe and a three-pointer by Tony Snell cut the Bucks’ deficit to 100-98 before Parker tied it.
Antetokounmpo had two baskets to give the Bucks a one-point lead in overtime, but he fouled out moments later.
James then drilled a three-pointer with 24 seconds left for a 110-108 Cleveland lead.
Parker was fouled with 18 seconds left but missed both free throws and James grabbed the rebound. The Bucks had to foul Irving and he sank both foul shots to give Cleveland a 112-108 lead.