You can stick a fork in the Heat because they are cooked.
The Miami Heat needed a win in the worse way in a matinee on Saturday to avoid being on the brink of elimination, falling behind 0-3 in this series. They also arguably had their best opportunity to get a victory with the Cleveland Cavaliers missing second-leading scorer Darius Garland, who was out with a sprained toe.
However, Miami did not show up and play with the energy or desperation required for a team whose season was on the line, getting demolished at home, 124-87. That is the worst playoff loss in the Heat’s playoff history and the third-best playoff victory the Cavaliers have ever had.
The Cavaliers took control with a 33-5 run early, outrebounded the Heat by 17, 46-29 and doubled up the Heat 60-30 in the paint.
“Our guys knew that was the key, rebounding and winning the rebounding battle,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “We really executed defensively.”
The Cavaliers had a comfortable 20-point lead and extended the margin to 22 points after three quarters. With five minutes remaining in the game, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra waved the white flag and emptied his bench and decided to move on to Game 4, where Miami will hope to avoid a series sweep.
“We took the first punch,” Mobley said. “And from there we just took the game over.”
Embed from Getty Images3-point specialist Sam Merrill took Garland’s place in Cleveland’s starting lineup and did not provide much in the way of offense. But De’Andre Hunter, who they acquired from the Atlanta Hawks, filled the missing point production with his best scoring performance of the playoffs thus far. The six-year veteran scored 21 points off the bench, shooting 3-of-5 from distance.
“Look, our guys really want this, and it probably looks like our guys don’t,” Heat coach Spoelstra said. “But I know what our last six weeks have been like, just to fight and scratch and claw to get into this.”
There is a long way to go in this year’s playoffs, but Hunter has provided the spark the Cavaliers were hoping for when they acquired him at the February trade deadline. Cleveland now possesses the kind of depth on its roster that can help in a six or seven playoff series against teams like the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics.
Tyler Herro did take offense to being singled out by Garland as a weak defender that could be “picked on” by the Cavaliers, saying he wasn’t “f***king around” in his matchup. Facing intense scrutiny after those colorful comments, Herro did not have his best day at the office.
The Heat guard scored only 13 points, harassed into a 5-of-13 shooting performance, including 1-of-3 from behind the arc, by a smothering defensive effort from the Cavaliers’ backcourt. Perhaps Garland’s absence helped his team on that end of the floor.
Coming off a 33-point effort in Game 2 on Wednesday, Herro arguably needed to be even better. Instead, he registered one of his worst games of the season. He had not scored fewer than 20 points in his past 15 games.
In addition to not having Garland’s 24 points per game in the lineup, Donovan Mitchell only scored 13 points for the Cavaliers while shooting 4-of-14 from the floor. Being outscored by former Heat Max Strus (18 points) likely would not have been predicted as a key to victory by any experts or observer.
However, the Cavaliers also made up for Garland’s absence by enhancing their play in the frontcourt with a strong performance from Jarrett Allen. Allen tallied 22 points and nine boards, answering Bam Adebayo’s identical numbers for the Heat. He also helped contain rookie Kel’el Ware to eight points and Andrew Wiggins to 10 in a clear and decisive win on the front line for the Cavaliers.
