With the Milwaukee Bucks' coaching situation in flux, it was nice for the Cleveland Cavaliers to prepare for Joe Prunty's tactics instead of Doc Rivers'.

Jokes aside, early into this game, the Cavs treated this like a baseball-style series where they faced the Bucks in Milwaukee for the second time in three days. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff made the right tactical decisions, like starting the fourth quarter with Sam Merrill, their hottest shooting threat, on the court and challenging a possible four-point swing when Giannis Antetokounmpo attacked Dean Wade at the basket with a full head of steam.

Speaking of Antetokounmpo, Bickerstaff was a constant thorn in Milwaukee's side whenever their Greek superstar sat. In those moments, Bickerstaff had his team play with haste and urgency, stretching and picking apart the defensive personnel the Bucks had on the court in Antetokounmpo's stead. Overall, the Cavs outscored the Bucks 28-13 whenever Antetokounmpo sat, giving Cleveland an edge to combat the 22 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists he gave Milwaukee.

Sure, there were still moments when things seemed dicey for the Cavs, especially when the Bucks ripped off four quick 3-pointers upon Antetokounmpo's return to the court near the end of the third quarter. But that's sometimes something you have to live with when facing one of the best players in the world. So with that in mind, Cleveland instead turned up the intensity on everyone not named Antetokounmpo, pulling off a 112-100 win in one of their most impressive performances of the regular season.

JB Bickerstaff, Cavs out-scheme Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo

Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff is disappointed

Maybe the Cavs found inspiration from Hey Arnold!, where the team only passes the ball to Tucker. But instead of Tucker, it was Antetokounmpo that Cleveland let try to do all the damage for Milwaukee.

Exploiting that and then being able to pour it on whenever Antetokounmpo sat was a rock-solid game plan schemed up by Bickerstaff. And now, his Cavs are still within striking distance of the Philadelphia 76ers for third place in the Eastern Conference, putting them in a sweet spot to go on a run when Darius Garland and Evan Mobley return to the floor.

While Bickerstaff's plan was almost perfect for Cleveland to steal a win in Milwaukee, it took his stars executing it perfectly to seal the deal. After admitting the Bucks were overly physical the last time they played, Cavs big man Jarrett Allen imposed his will on Milwaukee, protecting the interior and making nothing easy for the Bucks on offense. Allen finished the game with 24 points, 14 rebounds, one assist, one steal and two blocks in nearly 36 minutes of action.

Complementing Allen was Donovan Mitchell, who continued to be red-hot on offense after pouring it on in the closing moments of Wednesday's game. Overall, Mitchell had 32 points, eight rebounds and six assists in 36 minutes for Cleveland. More impressively, Mitchell's six assists resulted in 18 points for the Cavs, meaning the hopeful All-Star was responsible for 48.2 percent of all points scored by Cleveland.

It was a two-way effort for the Cavs, both in coaching and from their stars, and it was just enough to steal a win against one of the best the Eastern Conference has to offer. Cleveland is in a rare spot where they could make a run and take the Eastern Conference by storm despite all their early adversity. If this latest win over the Bucks is any indication of how it'll go, then real scary hours are almost here for the Cavs.