Ball movement, another big game from Nunn continue Heat’s best start since Big 3 era
The crowd at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse had barely filled in Thursday and already the Miami Heat had the Cleveland Cavaliers on the ropes.
The Heat needed less than two minutes to send John Beilein and the Cavaliers searching for answers. Miami led by nine points almost immediately. The Heat’s defense was smothering. Its offense was dynamic. Another convincing win against an inferior team was brewing.
Miami’s rapid-fire nine-point lead quickly swelled all the way to 17 in the first quarter and eventually to as large as 27 on the way to a 108-97 win in Cleveland. The Heat, one of the biggest surprises of the first month of the season, did what it was supposed to do to a likely non-playoff team and blew out the Cavaliers in front of their fans.
The beatdown came from all directions. Post player Bam Adebayo flirted with a triple-double for a half and finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. Point guard Kendrick Nunn picked up where he left off in the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday and erupted for 23 points and eight assists, including a nine-point, four-assist first quarter. Rookie wing Tyler Herro, who missed the win against the Pistons because of an ankle injury, returned to the lineup and scored 16 points off the bench.
Miami (8-3) did all this without a major contribution from Jimmy Butler. The star wing had only eight points and two assists going into halftime, when the Heat had already built an insurmountable 68-44 lead. He finished with 14 points and six assists to help Miami to its best 11-game start since 2013.
The Heat wasted no time burying the Cavaliers. After Butler airballed a midrange jumper on the first possession, Miami unleashed a barrage. Nunn opened with a three-pointer, then swingman Duncan Robinson hit one and post player Meyers Leonard hit another. Three straight threes put the Heat ahead 9-0 and forced Cleveland (4-7) into a timeout. The Cavaliers trimmed the lead down to 37-32 early in the second quarter, but never got any closer.
At halftime, the Heat had 22 assists on 26 field goals. Miami was 9 of 17 from three-point range and a perfect 7 of 7 from the free-throw line. The Heat shot 63.4 percent from the field in the first half and finished the game at 54.4 percent with 31 total assists. Miami never led by fewer than 10 after halftime.
This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 8:20 PM.
