Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins (22) and Miami Heat guard Pelle Larsson (9) fight for the ball in the first half of their NBA game at the Kaseya Center on Nov. 12, 2025, in Miami. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 130-116 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers (8-4) on Wednesday night at Kaseya Center to close its four-game homestand at 3-1. Next up for the Heat (7-5) is a single-game trip that features an NBA Cup group-play matchup against the New York Knicks on Friday at Madison Square Garden:
After the Heat defeated a relatively whole Cavaliers team at Kaseya Center in overtime on Monday, the teams’ second matchup in three days featured a depleted Cavaliers squad. But the Heat lost this game behind a dismal fourth quarter.
On the front end of a back-to-back set that ends Thursday against the Toronto Raptors in Cleveland, the Cavaliers rested starters Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley on Wednesday. In addition, the Cavaliers were without Darius Garland (toe injury management), Max Strus (left foot surgery) and Jaylon Tyson (concussion) against the Heat.
The Heat was also without a couple of its best players, as it remained without Bam Adebayo (left big toe sprain) and Tyler Herro (left ankle surgery).
But the Cavaliers found a way to escape with the win to end the Heat’s three-game winning streak despite trailing for most of the night.
“Very bad loss. I mean, that’s a very bad loss,” Heat guard Norman Powell emphasized. “They’re a good team. But when they’re sitting their starters, their go-to guys, that’s when we got to put our stamp on the game and not give them any life.”
The Heat didn’t trail in the first half, pulling ahead by as many as 12 points in the first two quarters before entering halftime with a 69-66 advantage.
The Heat then opened the third quarter on a 23-12 run to extend its lead to 14 points with five minutes left in the third quarter.
That’s when the Cavaliers took control of the game, taking their first lead of the night with 10:03 remaining in the fourth quarter and never looking back.
After the Heat pulled ahead by 14 points in the third quarter, the Cavaliers closed the game on a 52-24 run on their way to the double-digit victory.
The Cavaliers dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring the Heat 37-19 in the period. Miami shot just 8 of 22 (36.4 percent) from the field and 2 of 8 (25 percent) from three-point range while committing four turnovers in the fourth quarter.
“In the first half, that’s the area where we probably could have taken control of the game better,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And when you don’t take care of the game when you can in those areas, then it’s tough to get it back sometimes. And that’s what happened in the second half.”
The Heat’s revamped up-tempo offense that entered Wednesday averaging the most points per game (125.5) in the NBA while playing at the league’s fastest pace (106.6 possessions per 48 minutes) was limited to only 47 points in the second half after scoring 69 points in the first half.
“I think we took our foot off the gas once we got it to where we felt that we could control the game a little bit,” Powell said. “And we gave them life.”
Spoelstra added: “We didn’t have our normal energy. There were pockets of the game where you saw the energy. But it was really more of a grind to get the running out in transition, the cuts, the swings, the catch-and-go drives, everything was just a little bit late.”
Center Jarrett Allen led the Cavaliers with a game-high 30 points to go with 10 rebounds.
Forward De’Andre Hunter added 21 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals for Cleveland.
Powell was the only Heat player to reach the 20-point mark. He finished with 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and 5-of-10 shooting on threes.
Also for the Heat, forward Andrew Wiggins recorded 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Davion Mitchell contributed 16 points, three rebounds and four assists.
The Heat is now 1-5 this season when finishing with an offensive rating below 115 points scored per 100 possessions.
Wednesday marked the Heat’s first home loss of the season, falling to 5-1 at Kaseya Center.
“We’re going to take this as a learning experience,” Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. said. “There’s a lot to learn from this game. Hopefully we can take that into the future.”
The Heat lost Wednesday’s game in the margins.
After outscoring the Cavaliers 36-19 at the free-throw line in Monday’s win, the Heat was outscored 26-11 at the foul line in Wednesday’s loss.
The Heat also committed a season-high 21 turnovers and was outscored 29-16 in points off turnovers on Wednesday.
In addition, the Cavaliers finished with a 15-9 edge in offensive rebounds to outscore the Heat 26-12 in second-chance points on Wednesday.
All of this led to the Cavaliers dominating the possession game, as Cleveland took 10 more field-goal attempts and 18 more free throws than Miami.
“That is a recipe for defeat right there,” Jaquez said. “A lot of fouling, a lot of turnovers. It’s tough to win when you got 20-plus turnovers.
This all helped negate the fact that the Heat’s offense was otherwise efficient on Wednesday, shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 15 of 37 (40.5 percent) from three-point range in the loss.
“I don’t think our offense was a problem at all,” Powell said. “I mean, we’re 47 percent [from the field], 40 from the three. They had 31 free throws and we had 13. We had 21 turnovers and they got 29 points off of those turnovers. I think that’s the game right there.”
Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) drives the ball as Cleveland Cavaliers center Thomas Bryant (3) defends in the second half of their NBA game at Kaseya Center on Nov. 12, 2025, in Miami. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
Powell’s fast starts and string of impressive performances continued early this season, but it didn’t matter in this one.
Powell entered Wednesday averaging the seventh-most points per first quarter in the NBA this season, and he again started strong.
Powell began Wednesday’s game by scoring eight of the Heat’s first 17 points. He ended the first quarter with those eight points.
With Powell closing the loss with a team-high 27 points, he has now finished with 20 or more points in eight of the first nine games he has played in this season.
So far, Powell has proven to be a fantastic offseason addition for the Heat.
Powell, who was acquired by the Heat in a three-team trade in July, entered Wednesday among just four NBA players averaging at least 24 points per game while shooting better than 45 percent from the field and better than 45 percent from three-point range this season. The others are Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Two important Heat players battled foul trouble on Wednesday.
Heat center Kel’el Ware, who made his fourth straight start for the injured Adebayo, was limited to just nine first-half minutes after picking up his third foul with 4:36 left in the second quarter.
Ware still found a way to be effective, recording 15 points, 13 rebounds, one steal and one block in 28 minutes.
Jaquez, who has been among the NBA’s best reserves this season, also was called for his third foul late in the first half before being called for his fourth foul in the third quarter.
Jaquez could never find his rhythm on Wednesday, finishing the loss with 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting from the field and 0-of-4 shooting on threes in 30 minutes.
The Heat failed this early-season test, overlooking an undermanned opponent.
With the Cavaliers missing their three best players in Mitchell, Mobley and Garland, the Heat entered Tuesday’s matchup with a big advantage.
But the results don’t always reflect that advantage, as the Heat has lost to short-handed or inferior teams a bunch of times in recent seasons.
The Heat again lost that type of game on Wednesday.
“We got to be better,” Powell said. “It doesn’t matter who is suiting up. We got to focus on what we need to focus on and play our brand of basketball, no matter who we’re lined up against.”