Irving scores 28 but Cavs come up short

By Mary Schmitt Boyer

Cleveland Plain Dealer

MILWAUKEE, Wis.

Once again, with a chance to gain some ground on a rival in the Eastern Conference playoff race, the Cavaliers came up short with a 115-105 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night in Bradley Center.

Kyrie Irving led the Cavs with 28 points, and Alonzo Gee added 19 as the Cavs slipped to 16-25. Ersan Ilyasova had 22 points and eight rebounds, and former Cav Drew Gooden had a triple double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists for the Bucks (19-24).

The Bucks maintained their hold on the No. 8 playoff spot, while the New York Knicks (19-24) kept pace with a 121-79 victory over visiting Portland. The Cavs fell further off the pace — allowing Milwaukee to shoot 60 percent in the third quarter will do that.

“I’ve got to give them credit,” Cavs coach Byron Scott said. “I thought they played extremely well, especially offensively — really moved the ball, made great cuts, passed the ball extremely well. I give them all the credit in the world.

“Their offensive execution was great. We had a little bit of a lull. We missed layups and things like that. Against this team, you start turning the ball over, and they got on a nice little run. For 48 minutes, I thought they were about as steady as they could be.”

Technically, the Bucks were shorthanded, because newly acquired Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh and Kwame Brown did not dress for the game. But the players they were traded for — Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson — weren’t factors for the Bucks recently. Bogut has been out with a fractured left ankle and Jackson has fallen out of the rotation.

The lapse Scott feared came in the third quarter, when Milwaukee made 12 of 20 shots (60 percent) and pulled out to an 84-78 lead heading into the fourth. The Bucks pushed that lead to 88-78 while Irving was on the bench getting his usual rest at the start of the fourth. Unlike many times in the past, he was not able to rescue his teammates.