Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Heat overwhelmed the short-handed Cavaliers

The five-game losing streak ended in Cleveland in game one of the miniseries. The defense derailed one of the top attacks in the league, and they prevented the Cavaliers from having success on second opportunities.

The Heat’s seven three-pointers and a few slips into the lane sustained them in the first quarter, as they climbed to a nine-point lead, while the Cavaliers’ offense was stuck in the mud. Things kept going right for the Heat in the next frame as they slowed down James Harden’s shot creation plus Andrew Wiggins and Jaime Jaquez Jr. combined for five baskets at short and long range.

They went into intermission ahead by 17, but the Cavs subsequently got within reaching distance in the third quarter thanks to Donovan Mitchell turning into supernova, scoring 13 points in the period. Yet, they wasted fuel in their reserves trying to catch up, and the Heat had a second wind as they targeted the lane.  

The Heat won 120-103. It was their first road victory since March 6 in Charlotte.

Takeaways:

• The Cavaliers were without Jarrett Allen and four other rotation players on the second night of a back-to-back after defeating the Orlando Magic at home on Tuesday. They are a contender and are going all in after trading their young two-time All-Star (Darius Garland) for 36-year-old James Harden. The Heat were able to hold Harden to 40% shooting and five turnovers.

• The Heat’s bench outscored Cleveland’s by 28 points, and the defense held the Cavs to 9.9 points below the league average in the restricted area. Furthermore, the Heat’s run-and-stun offense and sharp deep shooting had 11 fastbreak points, and 13 triples by halftime. They only had six more points on the break and had five extra triples the rest of the game. The team had eight double-figure scores, and the offense logged 125.3 per 100 possessions, good enough for the 78th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. 

• Mitchell was the top player in the game through three quarters, scoring 26 points in that span, but the fourth belonged to Jaquez, Kel’el Ware, Norman Powell and Tyler Herro. 

• Bam Adebayo shot poorly (31.6), but he was a factor on the glass, picking up 10 boards and dishing seven assists against one turnover.