Cleveland Cavaliers close at Fiserv Forum as fourth-quarter surge and paint scoring outpace the Milwaukee Bucks

The Cleveland Cavaliers moved to 42-27 with a 123-116 result over the Milwaukee Bucks, who came in at 28-40, at 8:00 PM EDT at Fiserv Forum.

First quarter

The Cleveland Cavaliers opened with 37 points in the first quarter while the Bucks scored 24.

The Cavs shot 49 percent from the field in the game and set an early tone by building a 15-point biggest lead.

The Land also generated 15 fast-break points on 62 percent conversion across 8 attempts.

Second quarter

The Bucks answered with 34 points in the second quarter while the Cavs scored 20, and the game tracked 11 ties with 16 lead changes.

Milwaukee hit 20 three-pointers on 44 percent shooting from deep and finished with 57 bench points.

The Cavs reached the line for 34 free throws and made 27 for 79 percent to keep pace during the Bucks’ push.

Third quarter

The Cavs scored 28 points in the third quarter and leaned on 56 points in the paint for the game while the Herd scored 29 in the period.

Cleveland posted 27 assists and 7 total turnovers, which aligned with a 4.5 assists-to-turnover ratio in the box score.

Milwaukee recorded 24 assists and 8 turnovers while staying close on 48 percent overall shooting.

Fourth quarter

The Wine and Gold finished with 38 points in the fourth quarter while the Bucks scored 29, and Cleveland led for 33:25 overall.

Cleveland’s interior efficiency showed in 60 percent on 2-point attempts, and its 18 second-chance points followed 10 offensive rebounds.

Milwaukee’s stat line included 6 blocks and 49 rebounds, but the Bucks logged 0 fast-break points on 4 attempts as Cleveland closed the game.

Postgame notes and what is next

This Cleveland Cavaliers vs Milwaukee Bucks recap reflected Cleveland’s 55 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 steals alongside Milwaukee’s 3 steals and 6 blocks.

For post-game thoughts Cleveland Cavaliers fans can point to Cleveland’s 125.6 offensive rating and 120.2 defensive rating in the team metrics.

In this post-game report Cleveland Cavaliers followers can also note Milwaukee’s 120.2 offensive rating and 125.6 defensive rating from the same dataset.

A Cleveland Cavaliers coach post-game reaction can reference the 24 bench points for Cleveland against Milwaukee’s 57 and the Bucks’ 23 total fouls against Cleveland’s 20.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will be at the Chicago Bulls on 2026-03-19 at 8:00 PM EDT at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, and the broadcast will be on CHSN and FDSOH.

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