Takeaways and reaction from Heat’s road win over Cavaliers. Also, a look at what comes next
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 124-107 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers (21-43) on Saturday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to begin a short two-game trip:
The first quarter was rough for the Heat (34-30), but the rest of the game belonged to Miami. Heat sharpshooter Duncan Robinson made history in the process.
The struggling Cavaliers led by as many as 11 points in the opening quarter, shooting 13 of 23 (56.5 percent) from the field and 7 of 9 on threes in the period. Cleveland, despite essentially being eliminated from playoff contention, played like the more desperate team early on with eight second-chance points on seven offensive rebounds in the first quarter.
The end result was a 36-29 advantage for the Cavaliers entering the second quarter.
But the Heat controlled the final three quarters.
Miami won the second period 38-24, the third period 32-26 and the fourth period 25-21.
The Heat outscored the Cavaliers 95-71 over the final three quarters.
“Our activity level in the last three quarters just across the board was better,” coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Following a first half that included 16 lead changes and four ties, the Heat never trailed in the second half. Miami led by as many as 23 points.
There haven’t been too many blowout wins for the Heat. Saturday marked just the Heat’s sixth win of 15 or more points this season, and two have come against the Cavaliers.
For perspective, the team with the NBA’s worst record — the Houston Rockets — also has six wins of 15 points or more this season.
Robinson made history in the victory, hitting his 500th career three in the game. He became the fastest player in NBA history to make 500 threes, reaching the milestone in his 152nd regular-season NBA game.
Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic previously held that title, as he made his 500th career three in his 187th game.
“That is a staggering statistic, if you think about it,” Spoelstra said of Robinson’s historic night. “It really is a credit to how much work he has put in to his craft to develop his shooting ability on the move, under duress and evolve versus different coverages and scouting reports that are designed to take him out of that shot.”
Robinson finished Saturday’s win with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting from deep.
The Heat’s leading duo of Bam Adebayo (13 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals) and Jimmy Butler (15 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals) combined for 28 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists and six steals. It’s the fewest points Adebayo and Butler have combined for in a game both played in since they totaled 21 points in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 1.
“Me and Jimmy are two guys that we create a lot of things,” Adebayo said. “But when guys are getting it going, we’re OK with it. ... We know if things aren’t going the right way, we gotta be more aggressive. But today, everybody was making shots and getting deflections. So me and Jimmy didn’t have to score a whole lot.”
The Heat overcame efficient three-point shooting from the Cavaliers, which shot 20 of 40 from deep despite owning the NBA’s second-worst three-point percentage this season. It marked just the sixth time in Heat history that it has allowed its opponent to hit 20 or more threes in a game.
Through it all, Miami turned in its most efficient offensive game of the season, scoring 124 points while shooting 54 percent from the field, 50 percent on threes, and 80 percent from the foul line. The result was the Heat’s best single-game offensive rating of the season, as it scored at a pace of 134.8 points per 100 possessions against the Cavaliers.
Already in control of Saturday’s game, the Heat was able to rest three starters for the entire fourth quarter on the front end of a back-to-back. Butler, Robinson and Trevor Ariza did not play in the final period.
While it was a rare blowout win for the Heat, the fact that it came against the Cavaliers is not surprising.
Not only do the Cavaliers own one of the worst records in the league at 21-43, but they were also without seven players on Saturday. Cleveland did not have Matthew Dellavedova (neck strain), Darius Garland (left ankle sprain), Isaiah Hartenstein (concussion), Larry Nance Jr. (right thumb fracture), Taurean Prince (left ankle surgery), Lamar Stevens (concussion) and Dylan Windler (left knee surgery).
That list includes the Cavaliers’ second-leading scorer, as Garland is averaging 17.7 points per game on 45.2 percent shooting this season.
Cleveland has now dropped six straight and nine of the last 10 games.
The Heat clinched a 3-0 sweep of its season series against the Cavaliers.
With two rotation guards out, Kendrick Nunn continues to provide a much-needed offensive boost for the Heat’s backcourt.
Starting guard Victor Oladipo missed his 12th consecutive game with right knee soreness and reserve guard Tyler Herro missed his fourth consecutive game because of right foot soreness, but Nunn again helped fill the void on Saturday.
Nunn, 25, finished with a team-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting from deep and four assists in 36 minutes in Cleveland.
The second-year guard has averaged 16.8 points on an ultra-efficient 52.9 percent shooting from the field and 43.2 percent shooting on threes in the Heat’s last 12 games since rejoining the starting lineup in Oladipo’s place. The Heat is outscoring opponents by 49 points with Nunn on that court during that span.
“We don’t take him for granted,” Spoelstra said. “Look, there have been a lot of different circumstances over the course of the last several months. Some out of his and our control. But he was a very big offensive piece to our equation last year and then these last six weeks, he has built on his experiences from last year and he’s really providing an offensive threat and spark for us in both lineups.”
Ariza also added to the Heat’s offensive punch in Cleveland, finishing with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
Along with Oladipo and Herro, forwards Nemanja Bjelica and Udonis Haslem were unavailable for the Heat on Saturday because of stomach illnesses.
The Heat’s bench has been inconsistent this season, but Saturday was a positive night for Miami’s reserves.
The Heat used a bench rotation of Goran Dragic, Dewayne Dedmon, Andre Iguodala and Max Strus, who combined to outscore the Cavaliers’ bench 36-25.
Strus, the Heat’s two-way contract forward, scored 12 of his 17 points in the second quarter. He also recorded four rebounds and two assists.
“I’m just staying ready so I don’t have to get ready. That’s been my motto all year,” said Strus, who has been in and out of the rotation throughout the season. “Ready for any opportunity that comes. When I get it, just do whatever I can to help the team win.”
Dragic contributed nine points, five rebounds and seven assists. Iguodala finished with eight points, five rebounds and three assists.
The Heat entered Saturday averaging the ninth-fewest bench points per game in the league this season (33.2) on 43.3 percent shooting from the field and 33.4 percent shooting on threes.
The Heat is 19-10 this season when its bench outscores the opponent’s reserves.
The Heat remains in seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings, and next up is a matchup against the No. 8 Charlotte Hornets.
Every team in the Heat’s vicinity in the standings that played Saturday won, with the eighth-place Hornets (31-32) defeating the Detroit Pistons and the fifth-place Atlanta Hawks (35-30) defeating the Chicago Bulls.
So the Heat stayed in seventh place, but gained some ground on the idle Boston Celtics (34-30) and New York Knicks (35-28).
Despite now owning the same record as the Celtics, No. 7 Miami is behind No. 6 Boston because of the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Celtics lead the season series 1-0, with the teams facing off two more times on May 9 and 11 in Boston.
The Heat is one-half behind behind the No. 5 Hawks, but Atlanta owns the tiebreaker between the two teams.
The Heat moved within 1.5 games of the No. 4 Knicks, but Miami owns the tiebreaker over New York after sweeping the season series.
The Heat is also 2.5 games ahead of the No. 8 Hornets.
The Heat, which has just eight games remaining on its regular-season schedule, now moves on to face the eighth-place Hornets on Sunday (8 p.m., Bally Sports Sun) at Spectrum Center to complete the back-to-back and its quick two-game trip.
The Hornets welcomed back two key contributors in Saturday’s win over the Pistons, with starting rookie guard LaMelo Ball returning from a fractured wrist that kept him out since March 20 and reserve guard Malik Monk returning from a sprained right ankle that had him unavailable since April 1.
This story was originally published May 1, 2021 at 10:14 PM.
