Heat, missing Herro, again blows late lead, succumbs to Cavaliers. Takeaways and details
Five takeaways from the Heat’s stinging 112-107 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday at Rocket Arena:
▪ Playing without leading scorer Tyler Herro and three other rotation players, the Heat nearly stunned the Cavaliers before blowing yet another late lead.
This could have been Miami’s best win since its Game 2 playoff victory in Boston last year. Instead, it became the latest crushing late-game collapse in a season full of them.
Miami led by seven midway through the fourth, then led by five with 4:13 left. But the Cavaliers closed the game on a 12-2 run.
The Heat generally played very well against a team that entered 51-10, but it ultimately it wasn’t enough without the ability to close.
“It’s tough when you’re down dudes and still have a chance to win and it slips out of your hands,” Bam Adebayo said after scoring a season-high 34 points, to go along with 12 rebounds. “As you see we can hang with the best of them.”
Cleveland stormed ahead 60-43 in the second quarter and seemed headed toward a lopsided win.
Then everything seemingly changed, with Adebayo leading the way.
The Heat unleashed a 16-2 run late in the second quarter to go to the half down just 63-59.
Six points from Kevin Love early in the third and a jumper from Adebayo then pushed the Heat ahead by three midway through the third.
After Cleveland went ahead 86-82 entering the fourth, the Heat took control from there - but only temporarily.
Duncan Robinson hit two big baskets and Haywood Highsmith broke an 89-89 tie with two free throws.
Adebayo hit two free throws, Highsmith hit a layup off a nifty Kyle Anderson pass and Adebayo nailed a three. And suddenly Miami was up 98-91 with under six minutes left.
After the Cavs pulled within three, Adebayo pushed the lead back to five with another jumper. Then he extended the lead to five with a three-pointer.
But the Heat went cold from there. Robinson missed a three and Terry Rozier missed two threes, including an airball. An Evan Mobley dunk put the Cavs ahead for good with 2:41 left.
From there, Robinson and Rozier missed threes, Highsmith missed a jumper and Adebayo committed a turnover with the Heat down three and 27 seconds left.
Robinson’s three-pointer appeared to tie the game with 17 seconds left, but officials said he was out of bounds when he took the shot.
“I was incredulous because I didn’t think I was that close to the sideline,” Robinson said. “I watched the film. It’s still kind of hard to tell.”
Darius Garland then hit two free throws, essentially settling matters.
“To get six straight stops [late] was a testament to us locking down,” said Donovan Mitchell, who led Cleveland with 26 points.
The Cavs became the first team in the league to clinch a playoff berth.
“Progress is sometimes painful,” Robinson said. “This has been a painful process for sure, being in all these games, being right there. It’s just a matter of getting over the hump. There are no moral victories with this group.”
Herro traveled to Cleveland but didn’t attend the game because of a head cold. Love said Herro was “really sick.”
The Heat also remained without forward Andrew Wiggins (sprained ankle), center Kel’el Ware (sprained knee), forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (sprained ankle) and forward Nikola Jovic (broken bone in hand).
For the second game in a row, Erik Spoelstra opened with a starting group that had never played a single minute together: Love, Adebayo, Rozier, Davion Mitchell and Alec Burks.
▪ Adebayo continued his offensive surge.
Adebayo opened aggressively, with first-quarter points on 4 for 5 shooting, and finished the night shooting 11 for 18 from the field (incuding 3 for 5 on threes) and 9 for 9 from the line.
And he was big in the fourth, hitting two threes, a jumper and four free throws before committing the late turnover.
This was his 10th game with 20 points or more in his last 19 games.
Since mid-January, Adebayo is averaging 22 points per game on 55 percent shooting.
He has consistently hit his mid-range jumper for six weeks after struggling with that shot early in the season.
“Early in the season, everyone was questioning my shot, what I need to do different,” Adebayo said. “Nothing has changed. I’m still taking the same shots. At some point, the table has got to turn.”
▪ Love had a memorable night, soaking in the adulation of Cavs fans and then contributing to a third quarter surge.
This was Love’s first game in Cleveland since he asked the Cavs for a buyout and joined the Heat 23 months ago. Love -- who missed the Heat’s two games in Cleveland last season because of personal reasons and a heel injury -- received a loud ovation before the game and then was honored with a tribute video during the first timeout, drawing another standing ovation.
Love waved to the crowd, pointed to his heart and then pointed to his ring finger, a reference to the Cavs’ 2016 NBA championship. His Heat teammates also stood and applauded after the video, which concluded with Love celebrating during the team’s championship parade.
“It was certainly emotional,” Love said of being honored. “Cleveland and Ohio will always mean a lot for me. Just a lot of love for a lot of people here. It does feel good to be acknowledged in a place where we won and did a lot of special things together as a group.”
Love left the Cavs with an NBA title and ranking ninth on their career scoring and rebounding list.
With Ware out, Love received his second consecutive start in part to allow Miami to match up with Cleveland’s big frontline, featuring 6-11 Jarrett Allen and much improved 7-0 Evan Mobley.
Love, who had nine rebounds in 12 minutes in Monday’s win against Washington, fueled a third quarter surge with a three, a jumper and free throw.
He closed the night with 10 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in 16 minutes.
▪ Most of the role players did their part, with Robinson leading the way.
Robinson entered having made 15 of his past 32 threes, and he hit his first three on Wednesday en route to finishing 4 for 8 on from beyond the arc. He closed with 14 points.
Anderson did his part, with seven points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
Davion Mitchell had seven assists and two turnovers.
Highsmith (13 points) was again helpful.
But Rozier had a nightmarish second half, missing all eight of his shots and committing three ghastly turnovers. He led the Heat in minutes with 40, closing with 12 points on 3 for 14 shooting.
After a second quarter defensive letdown, the Heat stiffened against a team that leads the league in points per 100 possessions, at 122.4.
The Heat, conversely, is 19th in offensive rating, at 111.8.
▪ This could be a preview of a first-round playoff series.
Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson acknowledged as much before the game, noting, “if we have to play this team in the first round, we know we have our hands full.”
Because Cleveland has all but secured the top seed (it has an eight game lead over Boston), the teams would meet if Miami enters the playoffs as the No. 8 seed.
Miami currently stands seventh in the East; if that holds, the Heat would host a play-in game against the eighth seed (currently Orlando), with the winner advancing to meet No. 2 seed Boston in the first round.
The loser of the 7-8 play-in game would play the winner of the 9-10 play-in game for the right to play the top-seeded Cavaliers.
Cleveland won two of the three games in the season series. Miami won 122-113 when the teams met in December at Kaseya Center, which was the Heat’s fifth win in its past six games against Cleveland.
But the Cavaliers won 126-106 on Jan. 29 in Miami.
Wednesday was the Heat’s only visit to Cleveland this season.
This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 9:34 PM.
