Heat takes care of business to defeat struggling Cavaliers and get back to .500
All it took was a timeout for the Miami Heat to get going Friday.
After falling behind by five in the second quarter to the team with the league’s worst record, a frustrated Erik Spoelstra called a timeout. Miami responded by outscoring the shorthanded Cleveland Cavaliers 84-55 the rest of the way to earn a 118-94 blowout victory at AmericanAirlines Arena.
It marked the Heat’s 10th win in its past 14 games, and brought its record back up to .500 at 17-17. The loss dropped the Cavaliers, which had just nine available players Friday, to a league-worst 8-28.
It also marked Miami’s 15th consecutive home win over Cleveland, a streak that dates back to the 2010-11 season.
Again, Justise Winslow played a big role in the Heat’s victory. He finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
Center Hassan Whiteside, who is in the middle of the worst free-throw shooting slump of his career, made 2 of 4 shots from the foul line and finished with 12 points and four rebounds in 18 minutes. Although Whiteside still made just 50 percent of his free throws Friday, it was an improvement for a player who had made just 5 of his previous 36 free throws entering the game.
Heat reserve center Bam Adebayo finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Miami was also sharp defensively after a slow start, turning to the 2-3 zone for much of the second half. The Heat limited the Cavaliers to 32.3 percent shooting over the final three quarters to hold its opponent under 100 points for the sixth time in the past seven games.
Jordan Clarkson led Cleveland with 18 points on 6 of 11 shooting.
The Heat was without Udonis Haslem (illness), Goran Dragic (right knee surgery) and Dion Waiters (left ankle surgery). In addition, forward James Johnson exited the game at halftime and never returned due to an illness.
Next up for the Heat is a Sunday matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves at AmericanAirlines Arena.
