Winter took its sweet time arriving in Milwaukee after a mild November. But there was no mistaking that it reached the fingertips of the Milwaukee Bucks late in the first quarter Sunday at the Bradley Center.
Sure, the defense of the Cleveland Cavaliers had a bit to do with it, but when Milwaukee missed 18 consecutive shots in a span of 11:25 of the first and second quarters, the final 30 minutes were academic in a 101-86 loss to the Cavaliers.
How bad was it? Well thanks to a 29-0 run, the Cavaliers were able to take a 19-point lead (52-32) to the half. And that was after Milwaukee started the game with an 11-0 run.
"For them to jump on us and (for us) to be able to come back and get a win the way we did defensively in the second quarter, I thought we were pretty good," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "Milwaukee missed some shots, but I thought we were contesting and flying around and covering for one another after that initial burst they had."
After their 11-0 opening salvo, the Bucks held leads of 15-5, and led 17-10 after a layup by Ersan Ilyasova with 4:36 left in the first period.
From there, it was a trip into uncharted territories of futility.
When Carlos Delfino scored Milwaukee's next points on a short jumper from the right side of the lane with 5:11 left in the half, it cut the Bucks' deficit to 39-19.
Cleveland closed the first quarter with an 11-0 run, and things just kept going in the second.
Delonte West scored the first 14 points of the second quarter to make the run 25-0, and as Milwaukee kept missing, Daniel Gibson added two free throws and Zydrunas Ilgauskas dropped in a layup that put the finishing touches on turning a seven-point deficit into a 22-point edge.
"I think we had good shots," said Milwaukee guard Luke Ridnour, who was one of the players West abused in his 14-point run. "I think we had good looks and they just didn't go in. I've never seen 18 straight shots missed, but I've seen a lot of times where you miss 10 in a row.
"It's just part of the game. You can't explain it. You've got to give them credit, but at the same time we just missed shots."
With a team-high 21, West led the Cavs' 45-point bench effort. It marked the fourth consecutive game in which Cleveland's reserves topped 40 points.
"Obviously Delonte was good for us off the bench," Brown said. "We were able to play through him for a while."
On the other side, Milwaukee had nothing going. Rookie Brandon Jennings finished with a game-high 24 on 9-for-22 shooting. Delfino and forward Hakim Warrick were the only others in double figures, both with 11.
Ranked fourth in the league in 3-point percentage entering the game, the Bucks kept misdialing from long distance. Milwaukee missed its first 10 3-pointers before Delfino finally connected with 2:45 left in the half as part of a 10-0 run. The Bucks were 1 for 15 on threes at one point before finishing 4 for 20.
"We've been living and dying by the three," Skiles said. "Tonight none of them went in. When they were pulling away we needed to be able to make some plays on one end or the other, and both ends went south on us at the same time."
Even more amazing about the Cleveland run was that it was accomplished with little scoring from LeBron James. In his second game back after missing three weeks with a sprained left foot, Milwaukee's Luc Richard Mbah a Moute hounded James defensively and got plenty of help.
James was more than happy to feed his open teammates. He finished with 10 assists in just 32 minutes but took only 10 shots on his way to 14 points, well short of his 27.9 average entering the game.
His 10 assists marked his fourth straight game with double-digit assists. Not coincidentally, the Cavs (15-5) have won four straight.
"I've always been a guy who gives," James said. "I just take what the defense gives me, and also our guys were knocking down shots. Milwaukee was cautious and not allowing me to get into the paint, so when I did I was able to kick it out to our shooters."
For the Bucks, things have taken a progressively worse turn since an 8-3 start in which Jennings and his teammates took the league by surprise.
Milwaukee has lost three straight and seven of its last eight to fall to 9-10. Things don't get any easier, either, with a trip to Boston on Tuesday.
But the Bucks weren't worried about that just yet as they licked the wounds of a 0-for-18 shooting spell and a 29-0 blitzing.
"The game came down to that run," said center Andrew Bogut, who struggled to seven points on 3-for-11 shooting. "We started off very well and after that we just couldn't hit a shot."
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