New-look Cavs beaten at buzzer by Bucks, 105-102

LeBron James’ final bucket came with too much time on the clock.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Michael Redd hit a game-winning 3-pointer as the final horn sounded, giving the Milwaukee Bucks a 105-102 victory over the new-look Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night.

LeBron James had just hit a game-tying layup with 5.9 seconds left when Redd launched a 27-foot shot from the left side that sailed through the basket with 0.1 seconds remaining on the clock. After a replay review, officials ruled the shot was good and the game was over.

Mo Williams scored a season-high 37 for Milwaukee, which has won three of its last four games — with victories over Cleveland, Denver and Detroit.

James scored 35 for the Cavaliers, who struggled to integrate the four new players they obtained in a recent blockbuster trade.

Milwaukee took a 96-94 lead on an alley-oop inbounds pass from Desmond Mason to Andrew Bogut for a dunk with 2:35 remaining, then extended the lead to 99-95 on a hook shot by Charlie Villanueva with 1:04 left.

After a miss by Cleveland’s Wally Szczerbiak, Bogut missed two putback attempts on the offensive end to give the ball back to Cleveland with 25.1 seconds left. Cleveland’s Damon Jones then hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key, cutting the Bucks’ lead to one.

Williams was fouled and hit two free throws to extend the lead to three with 15.3 seconds left. But James hit a layup to cut the lead to one with 10.6 seconds left.

Redd was fouled on the inbounds pass, but hit only one of two free throws, giving the Cavaliers a chance to tie or take the lead with 10.1 seconds left. James hit the layup — then Redd hit the game-winner.

Cleveland was playing its second game with new additions Ben Wallace, Delonte West, Szczerbiak and Joe Smith, who were obtained in a blockbuster, 11-player, three-team trade Feb. 21.

All four players made significant contributions in their first game with their new team, a 20-point victory over Memphis on Sunday. But the Cavaliers’ new crew struggled from the start Tuesday night.

So the Cavaliers turned to James, who came into Tuesday night’s game needing 54 points to reach 10,000 for his career — a feat that, at age 23, would make him the youngest player in NBA history and ninth-fastest player overall to score 10,000.

Cleveland was playing without starting center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who sat out because of an upper respiratory infection. Anderson Varejao started in place of Ilgauskas, but picked up his third foul with just over four minutes remaining in the second quarter.

Williams’ fireworks started early, as he scored 22 in the first half and rallied the Bucks to a 57-53 halftime lead in the final 30 seconds of the second quarter, hitting a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left and lobbing an alley-oop pass to from beyond halfcourt to Mason for a dunk with 1.4 seconds left in the half.