Takeaways from Heat’s win over Cavaliers, and how Adebayo and Butler took the game over
The third quarter was a source of frustration for the Miami Heat just a few days ago. On Friday, the period was a big reason it won.
After losing the frame by 15 points in Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Phoenix Suns, the Eastern Conference-leading Heat (45-23) used a dominant third quarter to earn a 117-105 bounce-back win over the Cleveland Cavaliers (38-28) on Friday night at FTX Arena. It marked Miami’s first win over Cleveland this season after dropping the first two meetings.
The Heat outscored the Cavaliers 27-15 in the quarter to turn a one-point halftime lead into a 13-point lead entering the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers shot just 4 of 16 from the field and 1 of 7 on threes while committing seven turnovers in the third period.
“A lot more ball pressure, a lot more physicality, a disposition,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the defensive performance in the third quarter. “Even through there were some fouls, it was at least more to our nature and we were able to get some easy baskets from that. I think in that first and third quarter, that was some of our better defensive efforts collectively against a good team.”
Stars Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler stepped up to push the Heat to the victory, combining for 54 points on 18-of-30 (60 percent) shooting. It marked the first time that Adebayo and Butler have played against the Cavaliers this season, as they both missed the first two matchups because of injuries.
Adebayo finished with 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field and 8-of-8 shooting from the foul line, 17 rebounds and three steals.
“He played a great all-around winning basketball game and he impacted the win as much as anybody on both ends of the court,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo. “Then when you’re able to see that kind of stat line and be rewarded with a win and all of the little things that he was doing, you feel good about that. He was powerful.”
Butler finished with 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 10-of-12 shooting from the foul line, four rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Tyler Herro contributed 22 points off the bench for the Heat.
The Heat was ahead by double digits for most of the fourth quarter.
Playing without starting center Jarrett Allen, guard Darius Garland tried to lead the short-handed Cavaliers with 24 points and 10 assists. But it wasn’t enough, as Cleveland shot just 8 of 25 (32 percent) on threes and committed 18 turnovers that Miami turned into 30 points.
The Heat continues its season-long seven-game homestand on Saturday against the Minnesota Timberwolves (8 p.m., Bally Sports Sun) to complete the back-to-back set. The Heat is 3-1 during the homestand.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s win over the Cavaliers:
Adebayo and Butler came alive in the second half, and that was the difference.
Adebayo scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds in the first half. He totaled 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 5-of-5 shooting from the foul line and 10 rebounds in the second half.
Butler scored just seven points on 1-of-2 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 shooting from the foul line in the first half. He took a more assertive approach to score 11 points on 11 shots in the third quarter on his way to scoring 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 shooting from the foul line in the second half.
The Heat outscored the Cavaliers 38-22 in the 16 minutes that Adebayo and Butler played together in the final two quarters.
Adebayo and Butler wreaked havoc on Cleveland’s top-five defense by getting into the paint. Each of Adebayo’s seven makes in the second half came from inside the paint and each of Butler’s six makes in the second half also came from inside the paint.
How important were Adebayo and Butler on Friday? In the eight minutes they weren’t on the court together in the second half, the Cavaliers outscored the Heat by five points.
Since returning from a four-game absence, Heat starting point guard Kyle Lowry hasn’t done much scoring. But he has made an impact in other ways.
Lowry finished Friday’s win with three points on 1-of-4 shooting, four rebounds and 10 assists in 32 minutes. He posted a plus/minus of plus-six.
“He’s one of those players who can impact the game while taking four shots,” Adebayo said. “Down the stretch, we will need Kyle Lowry to take more than four shots at the end of the day. We all know what he’s capable of and we’re going to need him down the stretch.”
Lowry has totaled just eight points on 2-of-10 shooting from the field and 2-of-9 shooting from three-point range in three games after missing the previous four games because of personal reasons.
Lowry has done other things, recording 12 rebounds and 25 assists in three games since returning.
Lowry hasn’t been an aggressive shot-taker in his first season with the Heat. Lowry entered Friday averaging 10.1 shot attempts per game, down from 13 last season and his lowest since averaging 9.2 shots per game in 2012-13.
Caleb Martin missed Friday’s game, but the Heat still came away encouraged by his diagnosis.
Martin, who was listed as questionable, ended up sitting out the Heat’s win over the Cavaliers because of his hyperextended left knee. The fact that he wasn’t ruled out until just a few hours before tipoff on Friday is a positive sign, considering that Martin limped off the court in the second quarter of Wednesday’s loss to the Suns and never returned.
“Very encouraging,” Spoelstra said Friday when asked about Martin’s status following the scare. “He tried to come up to me before shootaround this morning saying that he wants to warm up and give it a go, and we just said no. We’ll step in. But certainly even having that conversation, and we’ll treat him day to day. I don’t even know if we think it’s smart to play him [Saturday]. But considering how awkward it looked, this is great news.”
The Heat even decided that an MRI wasn’t needed for Martin’s injury.
Martin has been a consistent part of the Heat’s bench rotation this season. Without Martin on Friday, the Heat filled his spot in the rotation with Max Strus.
Strus had logged just a total of 15 minutes over the previous two games as Victor Oladipo’s return pushed him out of the rotation. But Strus was needed with Martin out and delivered on Friday with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting from deep in 19 minutes off the bench.
“Max is one of those guys where he didn’t play, but he keeps himself ready,” Spoelstra said. “I’ve seen him behind the scenes. Those days where he doesn’t play, the next day it’s the same routine and I always think about what UD says. You have to stay ready so you don’t have to get ready and that’s a prime example of that.”
Oladipo, who returned this week after undergoing surgery to repair the quadriceps tendon in his right knee last May, finished Friday’s win with five points on 2-of-6 shooting, two rebounds, two assists and one block in 17:35 off the bench.
It marked Oladipo’s third game back after spending the past 11 months recovering and rehabbing from surgery. Spoelstra said Oladipo won’t play Saturday against the Timberwolves on the second night of the back-to-back.
Heat forward Markieff Morris could soon make his return after missing the last four months of games.
The Associated Press reported Friday night that Morris has received clearance from the NBA to play again. A league source confirmed that the situation is definitely trending toward Morris returning before the end of the season.
Morris, 32, hasn’t played since sustaining a neck injury on Nov. 8 when Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic shoved him to the court. The injury was termed “whiplash” by the Heat, but the team is now listing him as out because of a “return to competitive reconditioning.”
Morris has been hoping for weeks to make his return, but medical clearance has stood in the way. Liability issues have been among the concerns that have kept him out, with a previous neck injury complicating the situation.
While a source said clearance from the league wasn’t finalized yet, it’s considered imminent.
Before hurting his neck in early November, Morris averaged 7.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 10 games in a bench role with the Heat this season.
Morris would join an already crowded Heat rotation with just 14 games remaining in the regular season following Friday’s victory.
The Heat strengthened its hold on the top spot in the East, and its remaining schedule looks to be an advantage in the race for first place.
As Miami closed a seven-game stretch on Friday that included six games against teams currently with a winning record, Friday’s victory moved the Heat 2.5 games ahead of the second-place Milwaukee Bucks with just four weeks remaining in the regular season.
The Heat went 5-2 during this stretch, with its only losses coming against the Bucks and the league-leading Suns.
What’s remaining on the regular-season schedule? Based on combined winning percentage and not considering the road/home factor, the East-leading Heat entered Friday with the sixth-easiest schedule left to play in the NBA.
In comparison, the Bucks have the third-toughest schedule remaining.
Also working in the Heat’s favor is the fact that nine of its 14 games left to play come at home. The Bucks have to play 10 of their 15 remaining games on the road.
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 10:38 PM.
