Jennings' 3 at buzzer lifts Bucks past Cavs

Milwaukee, WI – Brandon Jennings drained a 3-pointer from the top of the arc as time expired on Friday, as the Milwaukee Bucks slipped past the Cleveland Cavaliers, 105-102, in their home opener at Bradley Center.

"Once I got the ball with seven tenths of a second, if you (are) just one second late you are kind of beat on it. I just got as high as I could," Jennings said. "I knew once it left my hands and I saw it was straight, I knew it was in."

Jennings finished with 13 points and 13 assists, while Mike Dunleavy poured in a game-high 29 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Monta Ellis added 23 for the Bucks, who moved to 2-0 this season.

Kyrie Irving netted 27 points and dished out seven assists and Anderson Varejao had 20 points and 17 rebounds for the Cavs, who have dropped two straight after winning their season-opener.

"We definitely had the effort on both ends of the floor throughout the whole game," Irving said. "Both teams made runs. It came down to the wire, and (Jennings) hit a tough shot. And that was the game."

With his team trailing, 102-95, with 1:37 to play, Irving willed the Cavs back into the game, scoring his team's final seven points to tie things up at 102 with 0.7 showing on the clock.

The 2012 Rookie of the Year capped his personal 7-0 burst with an easy layup, forcing the Bucks to call a timeout.

On the Bucks' final possession, Jennings fought through a screen on a the low block, caught the ball at the top of the arc, and buried the deep trey with a hand in his face as time expired, giving the Bucks the win.

Cleveland took a narrow 27-23 lead after one. Alonzo Gee scored nine of his 18 points in the frame as the Cavs shot 55 percent from the floor and 66.7 percent from 3-point range in the period.

The Bucks, however, outscored Cleveland 32-22 over the next 12 minutes to take a 55-49 advantage into the break. Dunleavy drilled 2-of-3 from beyond-the-arc and Beno Udrih added nine of his 11 points in the frame. Milwaukee led by as many as 13, but the Cavs were able to cut the deficit to six before the quarter ended.

Cleveland took the lead back in the third after converting on 3-of-6 3-point attempts. Varejao added 12 points in the quarter and grabbed nine boards. Donald Sloan drilled a 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left in the period to give the Cavs a 79-76 lead.

Game Notes

The Bucks haven't dropped a home game to the Cavs since Dec. 6 2009 ... Milwaukee will host the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday ... This was the first of a six-game, 11-day road trip for Cleveland. It will take on the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.