• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Irving carries Cavs past Bucks

Jan 26, 2013 - 5:25 AM Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Kyrie Irving scored a game-high 35 points on 12-of-17 shooting to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 113-108 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday.

Tristan Thompson added 18 points and Dion Waiters chipped in 16 for the Cavs, who have won back-to-back games for just the second time this season.

Ersan Ilyasova poured in 30 points to go with seven rebounds, Monta Ellis scored 21 points and dished out nine assists and Brandon Jennings finished with 14 points and 12 assists for the Bucks, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

"We got a little bit of a lead, but then they did what they do best; giving guys the ball and letting them work on the top of the floor," Bucks coach Jim Boylan said of the Cavs' comeback. "They kind of had their way with us."

The Cavs entered the fourth quarter trailing 90-81, but scored the first six points of the frame to make it a three-point game with 9 1/2 minutes left.

The teams traded scores until a Shaun Livingston reverse layup sparked a 13-0 burst that give Cleveland a 102-95 lead with four minutes remaining.

Ellis' trey 10 seconds later ended the drought for the Bucks, who managed to pull within 107-104 with 52.1 ticks showing.

Irving, though, outscored the Bucks by a 6-2 count over the next 44 seconds to put the Cavs ahead 113-106 with 8.3 seconds left.

A dunk by Milwaukee's Larry Sanders with 4.9 seconds to play accounted for the final margin.

The Bucks lead 21-18 after one quarter and took a 59-50 lead into the break. Milwaukee's lead grew to 79-59 near the midway point of the third, but the Cavs outscored the Bucks by a 22-11 margin over the rest of the period to go into the final frame trailing by nine points.

"In the first quarter, we were just pressing and playing too fast," Irving admitted. "We got ahead of ourselves. In the third quarter, (Milwaukee) came out and made shots and I made a few shots. We got back into it and that was basically the game. We just kept crawling back."

Game Notes

The Cavs shot 52.3 percent (45-for-86) from the floor ... Livingston finished with 15 points and newly acquired Marreese Speights scored 10, while also pulling down six rebounds off the bench, for Cleveland ... The Cavs outscored Milwaukee, 52-40, in the paint ... Sanders scored 14 points and grabbed 11 boards in the setback ... The Bucks went 14-for-28 from 3-point range.