Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat soil themselves in second half, losing to the short-staffed Cavaliers

The Heat were upset by the Cavaliers on Vice Night because they ran out of gas in the fourth quarter, couldn’t guard without fouling, and were careless with the ball, turning it over 21 times. The visitors, minus three starters (Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley), deployed their eighth starting lineup in 12 games, and they made 72.7% of shots in the lane in the final stretch.

Coach Erik Spoelstra said, “This will be a lesson not for this weekend, but having that maturity, that edge to treat it with the same urgency as the other night.”

The understudy, Kel’el Ware, outplayed Jarrett Allen in the first quarter with rim attacks, a corner trey and two freebies, while providing sharp back-line help. Additionally, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Andrew Wiggins and Norman Powell buried close and long-range baskets, pushing the Heat to a 38-29 lead at the end of first period. Yet the first signs of the Heat’s impending doom were five turnovers.

Then Cleveland’s 11th man in minutes, Craig Porter Jr., started carrying them with long-range strikes and piercing the heart of the defense with jabs and kickouts. The Heat also got careless with the ball, turning it over four extra times, and went cold because Cleveland upped the intensity guarding in transition and partly due to some missed open shots. The Cavs even tied the game with 15 seconds left in the half, but Norman Powell reclaimed the lead going into halftime (69-66), slicing past Allen to cup for the basket plus the foul.

At intermission, the Heat’s double-digit scorers were Powell (17) and Simone Fontecchio (10). Their transition offense was in the mud, too, but they were significantly better in the half-court, scoring 102.7 points per 100 plays. 

In the third quarter, Miami kept ramming into the paint, making eight shots, but seven more turnovers and quick baskets off them allowed the Cavaliers to hang around.”We were able to extend the lead to double digits, but I feel like we took our foot off the gas,” Powell said.

The fourth quarter started with the Heat ahead 97-93, but they committed their fourth foul of the period two minutes in, and Cleveland took their first lead on a drive from Luke Travers. Coach Erik Spoelstra summoned his troops shortly after, but they couldn’t crack Cleveland’s code, and he was forced to call another stoppage with half the quarter left as they fell behind by 10. 

Allen was the best big man on the floor and sprayed four shots in Miami’s interior in the fourth quarter. Aside from that, the Heat only made five in the paint (out of 13), and they also allowed the Cavs to be the nastier team heading to the finish line.

The Heat lost 130-116 after getting outscored by 18 in the fourth, despite the Cavaliers making only 18.2% of their 3-point attempts late. Powell was the team’s only scorer in double figures in the second half (10).

Jaquez said, “We’re going to take this as a learning experience.”