Cavs offer Heat brutal reminder of what quality looks like in 149-128 romp in Cleveland
· Yahoo Sports
CLEVELAND – The Miami Heat’s desire remains to get to the playoffs for a franchise-record seventh consecutive season.
Friday night’s game offered a reminder of what can happen when you get there as an overmatched opponent.
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Last year, the Heat were swept out of their first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers by an NBA-record margin of 30.5 points in those four games.
Friday night, with the Cavaliers closer to full strength than they were in Wednesday night’s home loss to the Heat, Cleveland rolled to a 149-128 dismantling of Erik Spoelstra’s team at Rocket Arena, as if the two sides were back in the 2025 playoffs, this time with the Cavaliers’ lead peaking at 36.
Making it to the playoffs took a decided step back for the Heat with their sixth loss in their last seven games, still at the bottom of the Eastern Conference play-in race, at No. 10 in the conference.
With the Cavaliers injecting the 7-foot length of Jarrett Allen and the outside shooting of Max Strus back into their rotation, after the two sat out Wednesday night’s 120-103 loss to the Heat, it was a game decided even before halftime, a juncture when Cleveland led 81-46.
Strus, who scored 22 in the first half, led Cleveland with 29 points. Allen, who had missed the previous 10 games with a knee issue, returned to add 18 points and 10 rebounds in just 18 minutes.
For the Heat, there was little in response, save for a 20-point performance from Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Four Degrees of Heat from Friday night’s game:
1. Game flow: It was humbling practically from the outset, including a stretch in the first quarter when the Cavaliers got 16 consecutive points from the combined scoring of former Heat players Strus and Thomas Bryant.
That helped stake Cleveland to a 40-27 lead after the first quarter.
And then came the avalanche, with the Heat outscored 41-19 in the second period, a quarter the Heat shot 1 of 10 on 3-pointers, allowed .586 Cleveland shooting from the field, with six turnovers in the period to one by the Cavaliers.
The 35-point halftime lead was Cleveland’s largest this season, 11 more than their previous high.
Then, to add insult to injury, the Cavaliers carried a 109-87 lead into the fourth when Cleveland’s Evan Mobley ended the third quarter with a successful 32-foot buzzer-beating heave. Mobley closed with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
2. Strus loose: Held out of Wednesday night’s game, much to his chagrin as he regains his stride from an offseason foot injury, Strus made his first four 3-pointers after entering in the opening period.
Strus’ 12 points in the opening period represented his highest scoring quarter in his six games this season. His 10-point second period was his second-highest quarter.
With Strus held out, the Cavaliers made only three 3-pointers in Wednesday night’s first half. This time they were 5 of 6 from beyond the arc in the first quarter, with 12 3-pointers by the intermission.
The 22 points were one off the high-scoring half of Strus’ career, when he had 23 for the Heat against the Magic on Dec. 17, 2021.
He closed 10 of 14 from the field, 8 of 11 on 3-pointers, with it his highest-scoring game with the Cavaliers since leaving the Heat in 2023 free agency.
3. About it: About all that could be said from the standpoint of the Heat’s starting lineup is Bam Adebayo closed with a double-double, finishing with 14 points and 16 rebounds in his 31 minutes, before sitting out the final period.
In addition, Adebayo extended his streak of games with at least one steal to 15, making it the longest such streak of his career.
4.Onward: The Heat conclude their three-game trip Sunday against the Indiana Pacers, before returning for a three-game homestand against the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards.
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