At every single turn, as the Bucks appeared to put a final body blow on a Cavs team that should have been out of gas long ago, somehow someway Cleveland put something together to fight their way back into things. As regulation time wound out, a Bucks schematic deficiency allowed LeBron James a easy hand-off drive for an uncontested dunk to tie things up. End of first OT saw a comedy of errors result in the Cavs having the ball once more with a chance to win it before James luckily came up short on a jumper to allow for another crack for Milwaukee. Things finally began to click as fatigue set in for Cleveland as the Bucks benefited from Khris Middleton and Greivis Vasquez 3s and an absolutely huge offensive rebound from Greg Monroe as time expired for an inspired victory against the Eastern Conference’s top team.

Of course, the game didn’t look nearly as close as it ended up being down the stretch. Through the 3rd quarter the Bucks imposed a stretch of highly effective defensive play to lock a lazy Cleveland offense down while Jabari Parker did everything in his power to make his mark. He ended with 12 points on 5-10, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist and converted some wonderful dunks and post-moves to make the most of his extended minutes on the floor.

Good Lookin’ Out, Starters

The biggest takeaway from tonight above all is that the starting core projected at the beginning on the season put together a reassuring performance in their first time on the floor together on the year. MCW – Middleton – Giannis – Jabari – Monroe is one of the youngest core groups in the entire league, though they didn’t show their youth against a playoff proven Cavs squad. They provided a balance attack while keeping the ball moving in a pretty chaotic system. Each starter was able to get to double digits in scoring with Giannis and Monroe garnering double doubles (16pt/11rebs and 16pts/17rebs respectively).

It’ll take a stretch of time to see how this group fully fits together, but early returns seem positive. Carter-Williams filled in as an excellent ball distributor, Middleton still struggled a bit from the floor but made up for things with some crafty scoring in crunch minutes, Giannis imposed some fantastic D all night long, Jabari shook off some early rust to make his impact felt, and Monroe continues to be a reliable force down low for the offense to rely on. Trying to find enough shots for everyone may still be a challenge, but as long as each player recognizes who’s hot and who’s not, then the system should function just fine.

Bayless Big Once Again

The most on-again, off-again player on the entire roster came up huge once again for the Bucks. While most of the starters logged pretty big minutes, Jerryd Bayless led the bench unit and filled in when Giannis fouled out during the first OT. A 7 for 16 shooting performance was good enough for 17 points alongside 5 assists and 2 rebounds. Not only did he do an admirable job on the defensive end, especially when forced to match up against LeBron in crunch time, but he ended up being the guy most often with the ball in his hands during critical final possessions.

As long as continues to contribute at such a high rate, the impact of missing OJ Mayo is minimized to a large extent and keeps Milwaukee in a lot of games against opponents that should normally put them away much earlier than we’ve seen. It wouldn’t be a stretch to declare Bayless to be the early-season MVP for the Bucks thus far.

Bucks Next 5: @ WAS, @ CLE, @ IND, v. DET, v. SAC

Milwaukee can head home tonight thankful for an improbable win as they head once more out on a road trip in some of the East’s toughest cities. The Wizards toppled the Magic this evening and look as legitimate a team as many pegged them to be this off-season. Cleveland will most likely be setting themselves up for a revenge performance in Milwaukee’s first nationally televised game of the year, so watch out there. Indiana has been shaky coming out of the gate, but Paul George has been no joke since returning from a broken leg last season as he leads one of the more competitive teams in the East. Detroit has been rallying in the biggest of ways around Andre Drummond who has been playing out of his mind now that he is the sole focus of the offense and will be a huge load for Greg Monroe to contain. And finally, the Kings are a flaming wreck for the most part, but they’ve got enough names on the roster to cause some issues.

All in all, should be an interesting stretch of games!

MVP: Greg Monroe

While Kevin Love was putting a beating on the Bucks throughout the first half, Greg Monroe did his best to keep up as he scooped up as many rebounds as possible. There are some major concerns as of now about how poorly the Bucks have been rebounding, but Monroe has done his best throughout the year to correct as much as possible, and his 17 boards tonight is a testament to that. Great to see his continued ability to pass easily out of the post to wide open teammates on the wings and perimeter!