CLEVELAND (AP) — Darius Garland scored 39 points, Evan Mobley scored 17 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 8-0 by beating the Milwaukee Bucks, who were playing without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo’s injury, 116-114 on Monday night.

The Cavs also won 8-0 in 1976.

Garland hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left and the Cavs broke back, outscoring the Bucks 18-8 in the final 6:06.

Jarrett Allen had 14 points, 15 rebounds and made a big block on Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard in the final seconds.

Lillard scored 36 points for the Bucks, but committed a costly turnover when consecutive violations were called with 56 seconds left.

Bobby Portis played with 21 points and 18 rebounds for Milwaukee, which had lost six in a row.

This was Cleveland’s second win over Milwaukee in three days. On Saturday, Donovan Mitchell hit a shot in the final seconds to give the Cavs a 114-113 win.

Antetokounmpo was sidelined with a strained adductor muscle, an injury the two-time MVP suffered in the loss to Cleveland.

takeaway

Bucks: Even though they did not have Antetokounmpo, who averaged 31 points, they showed courage by doing their best. Milwaukee’s schedule wasn’t helped by five of their seven games being on the road.

Cavaliers: Another good lesson to never underestimate any team. The Cavs also managed to survive without Mitchell carrying them. He could only score one point after the first quarter and finished the game with 14 points.

key moment

Mobley showed off his versatile game for seven seconds in the second quarter. The 7-footer guarding the bottom of the rim rose to block a layup, grabbed the rebound, dribbled the length of the floor and dunked to spark a 10-2 run.

Key statistics

The Cavs became the second team in history to start a game 7-0 with every player averaging under 30 minutes. Seattle did this in 1978.

Next

The Bucks will host the Utah Jazz on Thursday. Cavaliers are in New Orleans on Wednesday.

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