Cavs vs. Bucks preview and gamethread
Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland look to take advantage of the Bucks’ poor defense.
The Cavs will look to stay perfect as they head on the road for their second game in as many nights.
Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (6-0) at Milwaukee Bucks (1-4)
Where: Fiserv Forum Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
When: 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 2
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Ohio (previously Bally Sports), NBA TV
Line: Cavs +1.5
Expected Cavs starting lineup: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen
Cavs injury report: Max Strus - OUT (ankle), Emoni Bates - OUT (knee), JT Thor - OUT (two-way), Luke Travers - OUT (two-way)
Expected Bucks starting lineup: Damian Lillard, Gary Trent Jr., Taurean Prince, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez
Bucks injury report: Khris Middleton - OUT (ankle), Giannis Antetokounmpo - PROBABLE (patella tendinitis), AJ Johnson - OUT (G League), Chris Livingston - OUT (G League), Stanley Umude - OUT (G League)
Fear the Sword will be hosting a live stream watch party for select games this year on Playback. Join us as we react to all the action.
What to watch for
Attacking Milwaukee’s guards
The Bucks defense is very bad. They’re 26th thus far in defensive rating (119.8) due to their inability to protect the rim (opponents are shooting 68.8% in the restricted area). This comes back to their poor point-of-attack defense. Their guards aren’t able to stay in front of anyone which causes the whole thing to break down even if they still have good back-line defenders in Antetokounmpo and Lopez. As a result, here is what guards have done against them so far this season.
- Tyrese Maxey - 25 points
- Zach LaVine - 25 points
- Coby White - 35 points
- Cam Thomas - 32 points
- Dennis Schröder - 29 points
- Ja Morant - 26 points
This is something Mitchell, Garland, and Caris LeVert will look to exploit. If you can create for yourself off the dribble and our a guard, you’re going to get buckets.
Attention to detail
The Cavs are rolling. How quickly they’ve bought into Kenny Atkinson’s system is impressive. They’re quickly getting up the court on every possession and staying in their proper lanes in transition. That has allowed them to generate so many easy looks. But can continue that same level of buy-in when they’re more tired on the second night of a back-to-back? Fatigue can affect your attention to detail.
The Bucks are struggling and the Cavs are playing their best basketball in half a decade. On paper, Cleveland should be able to attack their poor perimeter defense. But they have to continue to buy into the way they’re playing to do that. We’ll see if that can happen in the second night of a back-to-back.
Winning with depth
The Cavs have been winning with deep rotations. They’ve gotten key contributions from reserves like LeVert and Ty Jerome. That will need to continue. It wouldn’t hurt if Sam Merrill and Isaac Okoro continued to break out of the slumps they’ve been in to start the season. Friday’s win against the Orlando Magic was a step in the right direction for both.
Atkinson has consistently played ten guys and it has worked out. That will need to continue if they’re going to keep the good times going.