Milwaukee couldn’t match the hustle from Nae’Qwan Tomlin and company
The Milwaukee Bucks couldn’t keep up with the Cleveland Cavaliers this afternoon, falling short in a 93-83 loss. Cleveland dominated Milwaukee with physicality and hustle, and the game didn’t feel as close as the score suggests it was. Four Cavs scored double-digits, while the Bucks got nearly half of their points (41, to be exact) from Chris Livingston and Jamaree Bouyea.
Game Recap
The Bucks ran with Jamaree Bouyea, Andre Jackson Jr., Chris Livingston, Tyler Smith, and Pete Nance as their opening lineup. Cleveland’s starters were Tyrese Proctor, Saliou Niang, Norchad Omier, and the two stars of their first game, Nae’Qwan Tomlin and Jaylon Tyson. Mark Sears (MIL) and Craig Porter Jr. (CLE) were both out with injuries.
Chris Livingston came out of the gates hot, going on a personal 7-0 run across the span of the first minute that started with a tough layup on the opening possession. Jaylon Tyson finally got Cleveland on the board with a triple around the eight minute mark, and his team then went on a 7-2 run of their own before Jamaree Bouyea swished a pull-up three that turned the tide. All told, Bouyea and Livingston poured in the first 17 points of the game for Milwaukee. Cormac Ryan was once again the first sub of the game for the Bucks, a well-deserved nod after his performance on Thursday. At the 4:30 stamp, Bogoljub Markovic cashed in a three for his first points of Summer League, the first basket of the game for the Bucks by someone not named Jamaree or Chris. In the last three minutes, the Cavs were very active on defense and started to close the scoring gap. Rookie Tyrese Proctor banged a trey late to put his team up 21-20, but then Malik Williams answered with a three of his own at the buzzer to secure a 23-21 lead for the Bucks.
The pace of the game turned breakneck to start the second quarter, with both teams getting out in transition for some layups. Cleveland’s Warith Alatishe (allah-teesh-aye) scored five points in the first two-and-a-half minutes by running the floor hard. While Milwaukee was putting on an impressive shot-making display, they couldn’t build a lead because they kept fouling. The Cavs shot 15 free throws before the Bucks even shot one. At the 5:30 mark, Saliou Niang back-cut a ball-watching Livingston for a reverse layup that put the Cavs up 30-29. That sparked a 17-0 run for the team that lasted over five minutes. During the Cavalanche, Bouyea went down clutching his leg after he was knocked down going up for a layup, and he retreated to the locker room during a timeout. Luckily, it was nothing serious, and he was back on the floor with 2:30 left in the half. Livingston finally stopped Milwaukee’s bleeding at the free throw line with 30 seconds left, and Pete Nance greened a corner three right before time expired, but the Bucks still faced a 45-33 deficit heading into halftime. Bouyea, the budding summer star, led all scorers with 14 through the first half, while Tyson paced the Cavs with 11 points. Tyler Smith and Andre Jackson Jr. combined for zero points on 0-6 shooting in the first two periods.
Physicality ramped up after the break, with both teams scrapping on the glass and applying hard pressure defensively. Bouyea drained a wing triple, the first basket of the half for either team, at the 9:00 mark. Two minutes later, he hit another shot from the same spot, putting him at the 20-point milestone. Smith came out aggressive too, firing off two quick threes, but he missed both. Bouyea was the only Buck playing with poise; Jackson and Smith looked like deer in headlights, coughing up turnovers and getting overwhelmed by Cleveland’s long, athletic forwards. Nance threw down a driving dunk at the 5:00 mark in the quarter, trying to start some positive momentum, but Proctor and Tristan Enaruna responded with a three and a slam to keep the Cavs up 16 points. Less than a minute later, Nae’Qwan Tomlin went on a personal 5-0 run that forced a Bucks timeout. Ryan made a three after the stoppage, his first of the game, but once again, Cleveland had an answer. Enaruna slipped in for an and-one off a back-cut to keep his team’s lead hovering around 20 points. Then, on the next possession, he posterized Markovic with a left-handed throwdown. The score heading into the fourth was 71-52, Cleveland.
Hope for the hoopers in hunter green seemed to be slipping away, but they slowly chipped away at Cleveland’s lead early in the fourth, eventually putting together a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to just seven at the 4:40 mark. Markquis Nowell was a catalyst for Milwaukee. Then, Tomlin calmly knocked down a three and guided in a putback, and the Cavs had control once again. In the end, Cleveland avoided allowing their second late comeback of the Summer League campaign. Tomlin finished with a game-high 22 points, while Livingston led the Bucks with 21, although it took him 16 shots to get there. Bouyea and Tyson added 20 and 18 points, respectively. Alatishe, a 6’7” forward, blocked five shots for Cleveland, leading all players.
Stat That Stood Out
The Cavs won the rebound battle 65-44, an oceanic gap. Milwaukee looked completely outclassed in terms of physicality and hustle, which shows in the rebounding column, and that’s ultimately the main reason they lost this game.
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