Miami Takes 120-103 Decision

Wednesday’s matchup against Miami was a tale of two halves, and the second half was a tale of two quarters. 

Facing the highest-scoring squad in the Eastern Conference on the second night of a back-to-back, the Cavaliers went into the halftime locker room trailing by 17 points before storming back in the third quarter to tie the affair heading into the fourth. But after outscoring the Heat, 37-20, in that third period, Miami answered to outscore Cleveland by that exact same margin in the final stanza. 

When the smoke cleared, the Wine & Gold’s four-game win streak had come to an end – with Miami pulling away late to take the 120-103 decision at Rocket Arena. 

Both teams alternated blistering shooting in the second half. The Cavs shot 65 percent from the floor in the third, including 7-of-11 from long-range. In the fourth, the Heat caught fire – drilling 14 of the 18 shots they attempted, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. 

“We wanted to protect the paint, protect the rim, and (Miami) beat us over the top,” said Coach Kenny Atkinson. “But I’m pleased with the process; I thought we competed. They got off to a big lead in the first half, but we came out in the third quarter and I loved our fight, loved our resiliency, I thought we did a lot of good things. But in that fourth quarter, we missed a couple open threes, they make a couple, and that was kind of the story of the game.” 

Donovan Mitchell followed his 42-point performance the previous night against Orlando to lead Cleveland with 28 points on Wednesday – going 12-for-22 from the field, 4-of-9 from deep, adding six boards and four assists before fouling out late in the final period. 

James Harden and Sam Merrill followed up with 18 points apiece. Merrill did most of his damage in that wild third period – going 3-of-3 from long-distance, 4-of-4 from the field in Cleveland’s furious rally. Harden did much of his work from the stripe, going 7-for-7 to offset a slow shooting night, going 4-of-10 from the floor. Harden still posted a strong floor game in the loss – leading the Wine and Gold with seven assists, nine rebounds and the team’s only blocked shot. 

Keon Ellis was the only other Cavalier in double-figures, finishing with 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting after being inserted into the starting lineup when Dean Wade was a late scratch following pregame warmups. 

“I think the fight was there,” said Ellis, who added two boards and a pair of steals. “(Miami) got off to a great start, kind of controlled the game in the first half. We came out, fought back, tied it up. But the fight was there. They played a great game today. They just had a little more.”

On the night, Miami shot 52 percent from the floor to the Cavaliers’ 43 percent, connecting on 18 three-pointers and besting Cleveland in second chance scoring, 10-2, and on the fast break, 17-4. Miami’s bench dominated Cleveland’s second unit, 43-14, with three Heat reserves notching double-figures, including Kel’el Ware, who finished with 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting while leading both teams with 11 rebounds and a +32 plus/minus number in 20 minutes of work. 

All five Heat starters tallied double-figures in the win, led by Norman Powell’s 19 points and Bam Adebayo doubling-up with 17 points, 10 rebounds and a team-high seven assists. 

*** The Cavs close out their three-game homestand on Friday night with a rapid rematch against the Heat before leaving for their final multi-game road trip of the season beginning next Monday in Salt Lake City followed by Tinseltown matchup with the Lakers the following night. Cleveland tips off the month of April two nights later in San Francisco before returning to Rocket Arena for and Easter Sunday meeting with the Pacers.