‘The Spider’ was unleashed.
Donovan Mitchell came alive and scored 17 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter when it mattered the most and Darius Garland contributed 21 points and nine assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers held on for a 121-112 win over the visiting Miami Heat on Wednesday in Game 2 of their NBA Eastern Conference first-round series.
The Cavaliers hold a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven set heading to Game 3 on Saturday in Miami.
After the Heat, who trailed by as many as 19 points, made it a one-possession game, 105-103, on a Tyler Herro jumper with just over three minutes remaining, Donovan Mitchell responded with a midrange basket and drained a 32-footer off a Jarrett Allen steal to give top-seeded Cleveland some breathing room at 110-103.
“In the fourth quarter when it’s a two-point game, I had to find a way,” Donovan Mitchell said. “I just tried to put pressure on the defense. That’s my job. Those are the moments.”
Miami’s Davion Mitchell, whose nickname is ‘Off Night’ because of his defensive prowess said, “He’s a superstar for a reason. It’s kind of like there is nothing you can do in the NBA sometimes when someone is hitting tough shots like that.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Heat trimmed the deficit down to five by scoring on their next two possessions, but the Heat missed their next two shots before Evan Mobley sank two free throws with 25.7 seconds left to put the Cavaliers up 115-108.
“I love the fact that the game happened like this,” Donovan Mitchell said. “I’d rather win like this than by 20 like we did the other day. … The biggest thing is we responded when we needed to and closed out the game.”
Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson added, “When they cut it to two, you could feel the game slipping a little bit, but we kept our composure. Obviously, it helps when you’ve got Donovan Mitchell.
That was one of those ‘superstar takes over games’ (moments).”
Cleveland was on fire from beyond the arc, connecting on 11 3-pointers in the second quarter, a team playoff record for any period. Former Miami forward Max Strus made three of them, and Mitchell, Sam Merrill and De’Andre Hunter each had two. Mitchell finished 7 of 10 from downtown.
“There were four of them that we defended really well, but once it got to seven or eight, I think we got discouraged a little bit,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Herro led everyone, scoring 33 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Heat, who dropped the first two games in a postseason series for the first time since the 2021 first round against the Milwaukee Bucks’ Bam Adebayo was one assist away from a triple-double, with 11 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, and Haywood Highsmith scored 17 points and made 5 of 6 3-point attempts.
The Cavaliers All-Star Mobley had 20 points and six rebounds, and Hunter added 12 points after going scoreless in the opener. Cleveland made 22 3-pointers, three shy of the league record.
Strus had 12 points and Mobley and Donovan Mitchell each scored 10 in the first half as Cleveland built a 68-51 lead, despite Herro’s 17 points for the Heat. The Cavaliers held 19-point advantages in the second and third quarters.
Davion Mitchell replaced 14-year veteran Alec Burks as Miami’s starting shooting guard and contributed 18 points and six assists.
“We’ll get home, get a good, cooked meal and try to get two at the crib,” Adebayo said
