January 22nd, 2011 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
Imagine this if you will. The Milwaukee Bucks are missing their top two scorers in Brandon Jennings and John Salmons. On most nights, that would spell trouble for the Bucks.
But then a funny thing happened at Quicken Loans Arena: Milwaukee got the gift that keeps on giving – the Cleveland Cavaliers as their opponent on Friday night.
One would think that Cleveland, with a relatively healthy roster, would be able to pull off the upset against a team that is averaging a hair over 91 PPG (last in the Association).
If you had that thought, then think again.
As was to be expected, Milwaukee led from the tipoff to the final horn while, easily disposing of Cleveland 102-88.
The Bucks led by as many as five in the opening period before settling on a two-point lead going into the second quarter. The Cavaliers tied the game at 31-all on a Daniel Gibson basket before Keyon Dooling’s two free throws capped an 8-0 spurt, giving Milwaukee a 39-31 lead with 5:11 left in the half.
A 12-2 run by the Bucks, capped by a Carlos Delfino layup with 24 seconds left in the second quarter allowed Milwaukee to take a double-digit lead to their locker room at the intermission. The Cavaliers would never mount a serious challenge for the reamainder of the second half.
Andrew Bogut led the Bucks with 23 points, along with 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks while Corey Maggette added 20 with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Dooling notched a double-double, scoring 12 with a rebound, 11 assists and a steal.
The Cavs’ Antawn Jamison and Ramon Sessions tied for high scoring honors with 22 points apiece – with Jamison grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing out an assist, along with a steal and a block while Sessions grabbed 4 boards, dished out 4 assists, along with a steal.
Both teams return to action on Saturday night when Milwaukee (16-24) returns home to host the Memphis Grizzlies while Cleveland (8-34) makes the short commute to Chicago to take on the Bulls.
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