Cavaliers’ high-octane offense too much for Heat to handle in Cleveland’s Game 1 win
A step up in competition left the Heat with little margin for error on Sunday, and Miami ultimately couldn’t keep up with Cleveland’s high-octane offense in Game 1 of their playoff series on Sunday night in Ohio.
The top-seeded Cavaliers, the league’s highest scoring team at 122 points per game, shot 51 percent from the field and 42 percent on threes, never trailed in the final three quarters, staved off several Heat mini-runs and took control with a big run in the fourth to emerge with a 121-100 victory against the eighth-seeded Heat at Rocket Arena.
The Heat shot 49 percent overall and 42 percent on threes and yet still lost by 21. Miami forced just seven Cleveland turnovers.
Game 2 will be Wednesday night in Cleveland, before the series shifts to Miami for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday afternoon and Monday night, April 28.
The Heat hung around for a while but gave up too many second-chance points, committed too many mindless miscues (14 turnovers) and couldn’t stop Cleveland’s offense from behind the three-point line or on forays to the basket.
As TNT’s Kenny Smith noted, the Heat overextended its defense to try to prevent Cavaliers’ three-pointers, which allowed the Cavs too many open lanes to the basket.
And when Miami went to a zone, Ty Jerome, Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland tormented the Heat, combining for 85 points. Mitchell had 30, Jerome 28 (on 10 for 15 shooting) and Garland 27.
“It’s up to us to figure out how to beat that,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Tyler Herro managed just four points in the second half after a 17-point first half, finishing 7 for 18 from the field on a 21-point night. He also struggled defensively against Jerome.
After scoring his 18th and 19th points with 10:05 left in the third, Herro didn’t score again until late in the fourth. The Cavs did a good job defending Herro, who scored 38 and 30 in the two play-in games.
Bam Adebayo added 24 points (on 10 for 22 shooting) and 9 rebounds but suffered the indignity of having a dunk blocked by Jarrett Allen.
Davion Mitchell had 18 points (8 for 12 shooting) and nine assists.
But overall, there wasn’t enough elsewhere to offset the eruption from Jerome and Cleveland’s All Star backcourt of Mitchell (who shot 11 for 19) and Garland, who shot 10 for 17.
Jerome had 20 of Cleveland’s 28 points during one stretch late in the third and early in the fourth.
Cleveland center Jarrett Allen (12 points, 11 rebounds) outplayed Heat rookie center Kel’el Ware, who had no points or rebounds (but two blocks) in 13 first half minutes and finished with two points (on 1 for 2 shooting), three rebounds and two blocks in 20 minutes.
“This is the life of a young player,” Spoelstra said of Ware. “He’ll get to work.”
Wiggins scored 10 in the first half but was a non-factor in the second half and finished with 14 points and four turnovers.
Duncan Robinson committed two mindless turnovers during a Cavs’ run late in the first quarter.
For all the good Mitchell continued to do, he also committed three turnovers, including an uncontested one.
Kyle Anderson played just six non-impactful scoreless minutes.
The Heat’s best stretch was a 13-2 run in the first quarter that briefly put them ahead, but that was followed by a drought that included only one Heat basket in the final 5:35 of the first quarter.
The Cavs then unleashed a 12-4 run to lead 31-24 after a quarter and 62-54 at the half.
Miami closed to within 85-79 very late in the third, a stretch when Miami briefly gave the Cavs problems with their zone defense.
But every time the Heat closed to within six or seven early in the fourth quarter, the Cavs responded with threes - including one by Donovan Mitchell (who opened 9 for 10 on twos but 0 for 7 on threes), Strus and Jerome, who made 5 of 8 threes in his first playoff game.
And after a Herro turnover, Sam Merrill hit a three to push Cleveland’s lead back to double figures, at 102-90, with 6:29 left. That triggered an avalanche of Cavs threes, including two more by Jerome and two by Garland that stretched the margin to 119-100. Garland shot 5 for 10 on threes.
“We had it to seven points five or six times, and inevitably it would be a loose ball, a kickout three or a ...three to bring it back to double digits,” Spoelstra said.
Spoelstra again opted not to use Nikola Jovic (back from his February hand injury), Jaime Jaquez Jr., or Terry Rozier until inserting Jovic and Jaquez in the final two minutes, with the outcome settled.
This story was originally published April 20, 2025 at 9:25 PM.
