Kevin Porter Jr. hit the game winner in the final seconds and scored 20 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 118-116 victory over the visiting, short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
Milwaukee won its second in a row and eighth in their last 10 contests. It was a balanced scoring attack with seven Bucks scoring in double figures, including 18 from Ryan Rollins and 17 from Kyle Kuzma.
Jarrett Allen was nearly the hero for Cleveland, who played without Donovan Mitchell (groin), James Harden (thumb) and Evan Mobley (calf). Allen scored 27 points and laid in a shot at the buzzer that would have tied the game, but it was ruled no good after replay.
It was a first half full of runs. Plus a lot of 3-point attempts.
The teams combined to put up 50 3-point attempts in the half, with Milwaukee shooting 39% to Cleveland’s 33%. Both teams had a run of at least seven unanswered, with Milwaukee at one point rattling off a 9-0 run to take the lead in the second.
Jarrett Allen had 16 at the break to lead all scorers while Schroeder added 15. AJ Green led the Bucks with 12.
Another run would begin the second half. Milwaukee quickly went on an 11-0 stretch to start off the third, capped by two Kuzma 3-pointers to put the Bucks up 73-63.
Cleveland responded with another run. A 10-0 stretch from the Cavaliers erased the Bucks largest lead of the game of 12. Cleveland went into the fourth the same way they did the second half, up by one, 94-93.
The game remained a nail-biter until the end, when Porter Jr. hit a fadeaway jumper with 20 seconds to go to put Milwaukee on top.
Milwaukee snapped Cleveland’s seven game win streak against them and will have a chance to even the season series the fourth and final time these teams face off on Mar. 17.
