On January 25, Beijing time, the NBA regular season Bucks played at home against the Cavaliers, and the Bucks ushered in their first game after firing former coach Adrian Griffin. The Bucks led the game and suppressed the Cavaliers, leading by 21 points at the most, but the Cavaliers chased the single-digit lead in the final quarter, and Brother Alphabet and Lillard led the team to re-expand the advantage, and finally the Bucks defeated the Cavaliers 126-116 to win three consecutive wins to retain the second place in the East, and ended the longest existing eight-game winning streak in the Cavaliers league. Antetokounmpo had 35 points, 18 rebounds and 9 assists, Lillard scored 28 points and Middleton scored 24 points, and Mitchell scored 23 points to lead the Cavaliers to six double-doubles in double figures.
The first two meetings of the season have resulted in one win for each side. In the first meeting, the Bucks won 119-111 away, with 34+16+5 points and Lillard 31 points, leading the four to score double-doubles, beating Mitchell 34+6+9 and Allen 30+12+6. In the second meeting, the Bucks lost to the Cavaliers by 40 points 95-135, and no one scored 20 points in the absence of Brother Alphabet, Lillard only scored 17 points and 5 assists in 7 of 20, and Mitchell 31+5+7 and Niang led the team to a big win with 31+5+7 and Niang 33 points.
The two sides met for the third time of the season, and the Bucks ushered in their first game after the change of coach. The Bucks are fully healthy, the Cavaliers are missing the two cores of Garland and Mobley Jr., and Jerome is also missing. In the first quarter, the two sides started the offensive mode early, and the Bucks opened the game with a 13-4 lead, and the Cavaliers were close to the score. The Bucks were 12-of-26 in the first quarter and the Cavaliers were 12-of-23 in the first quarter, and both hit three three-pointers, but the Bucks took advantage of the free throw to take a 32-28 lead over the Bucks in the first quarter. Antetokounmpo had 6 points and 6 rebounds in the first quarter, Lillard had 12 points, and no player from the Cavaliers scored in double figures.
In the second quarter, the Bucks continued to suppress the Cavaliers and limited the Cavaliers to a double-double in the first half. The Bucks scored six points at 29-23 in the first quarter, and at the end of the first half, the Bucks extended a 10-point lead over the Cavaliers at 61-51. In the first two quarters, the Bucks were close to 5 percent of 23 of 48 from the field, including 8 of 19 from three-point range, 7 from 11 from the field, and Lillard with 12 points. The Cavaliers were close to 5 percent on 21-of-43 shooting, including 6-of-16 three-pointers, and Mitchell scored seven points on 3-of-9 shooting.
The Bucks continued to overpower the Cavaliers with excellent offense, and the Bucks extended their lead to an 85-64 lead by 21 points with 3:45 left in the third quarter. The Cavaliers then fought back to chase down points, and the Bucks scored four points at 32-28 in the first quarter, and the Bucks led the Cavaliers by 14 points at 93-79 at the end of the third quarter. In the first three quarters, the Cavaliers had five players score in double figures, but the highest scores were only 12 points for Allen, Strus and Merrill, and Mitchell only scored 11+5+5 data on 5-of-15 shooting. The Bucks had three players score in double figures, including 27+15+8 on 13-of-19 shooting, Lillard with 24 points, and Middleton with 10 points.
In the final quarter of the game, the Cavaliers set off a tenacious counterattack to chase the score, and the Cavaliers continued to close the score, and Allen continued to score with 3 minutes and 44 seconds left in the final quarter, and the Bucks only led the Cavaliers by 6 points at 114-108. The Bucks regained a double-digit lead with a dunk and Middleton's big two-pointer, and Lillard made a foul free throw, and the Bucks refused to be beaten by the Cavaliers.