It was an off night for the Cleveland Cavaliers who fell to the Miami Heat 122-113 in South Beach on Sunday night. Donovan Mitchell finished with 12 points on 5-16 shooting, though Darius Garland had 23 points, five rebounds, and five assists.
The Cavs were on the second leg of a back-to-back, difficult for any team, but made especially challenging with the loss of arguably their second-best player. Fresh off a career-high 41 points against Charlotte, Evan Mobley exited after just 11 minutes of court time after rolling his ankle. At that time, the 23-year-old had four points and three rebounds.
Tyler Herro continued his strong campaign with a 34-point outburst, his third 30-point game in his last six outings. Bam Adebayo had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds to go along with six assists. As a team, the Heat drilled 43% of their three-point attempts and only missed two free throws on 26 tries from the charity stripe. The Cavs had strikingly similar numbers, 42% from deep and only missed one free throw— albeit on just 18 attempts.
While it’s never enjoyable to take a loss, the Cavs would gladly take it if it means Mobley’s ankle injury is not serious. The good news is Cleveland won’t play another game until Friday against the Washington Wizards, so Mobley should have time to rest and recover ahead of then. A bright side of missing out on advancing in the NBA Cup
Not equally concerning, but still troubling, is Jarrett Allen’s continued average play. The former All-Star was largely invisible after Mobley went down, allowing his counterpart Adebayo to have a commanding game. Allen finished with six points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes and hasn’t scored more than 11 points in a game since before Thanksgiving. Should Mobley have to miss any time, Allen will need to be a more forceful presence in the paint on both ends of the floor.
The Cavs get a meaningful rest while the NBA Cup plays out and will face the Wizards at home on Friday, December 13.