Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 120-103 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers (45-28) on Wednesday night at Rocket Arena to begin a three-game trip and snap its five-game skid. The Heat (39-34) now remains in Cleveland to finish its two-game set against the Cavaliers on Friday:
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has called out the Heat’s defense during this recent skid, but the defense delivered to snap the skid at five games on Wednesday.
The Heat, which had a top-five defensive rating for most of the season, has been one of the league’s worst defensive teams during this five-game skid. Miami posted the NBA’s 26th-ranked defensive rating (allowing 126 points per 100 possessions) during this string of five straight losses.
The Heat’s defense answered the call on Wednesday, holding a potent Cavaliers offense to 103 points on 43.2 percent shooting from the field and 12 of 37 (32.4 percent) shooting on threes. The Heat also scored 18 points off 14 Cavaliers turnovers.
The Heat’s defense was especially dominant at the start, limiting the Cavaliers to just 19 points in the first quarter. Cleveland totaled just 46 points on 38.5 percent shooting from the field and 3 of 15 (20 percent) shooting on threes in the first half.
That defensive effort paired with a scorching 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) three-point shooting display in the first half led the Heat to pull ahead by as many as 21 points before entering halftime with a 17-point lead. Miami outscored Cleveland 39-9 from three-point range in the first half.
But the script flipped in the third quarter, as the Cavaliers got hot and the Heat went cold from behind the arc.
While the Cavaliers hit 7 of 11 threes in the third quarter, the Heat shot just 1 of 10 from three-point range in the period. As a result, Cleveland dominated the third quarter 37-20 to erase Miami’s 21-point lead and enter the fourth quarter with the game tied at 83-83.
The Cavaliers then took their first lead of the night on a Keon Ellis three-pointer to take a 86-85 lead with 11:25 left in the fourth quarter.
But the Heat’s defense again stiffened down the stretch, limiting the Cavaliers to 20 points on 5 of 19 (26.3 percent) shooting from the field and 2 of 11 (18.2 percent) shooting on threes. in the fourth quarter.
After the Cavaliers went ahead by two points with 9:30 to play, the Heat closed the game on a 32-13 run to regain control and earn a 17-point win.
Eight Heat players finished with double-digit points led by 19 points from Norman Powell. Tyler Herro added 18 points for the Heat.
Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 28 points for the Cavaliers.
Amid its losing skid, the Heat made a change to the starting lineup. Guard Pelle Larsson played as a reserve for the first time in more than two months.
The Heat opened Wednesday’s game with a starting lineup of Davion Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo.
While Wednesday marked the seventh game that this group started this season, it was the lineup’s first start since Jan. 13.
That’s because Larsson had become a Heat fixture in the Heat’s starting unit prior to being moved to the bench on Wednesday.
Larsson, who has made 48 starts this season, played as a reserve on Wednesday for the first time since Jan. 13. He continued to contribute positive minutes in his new role, recording 14 points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.
Larsson played the entire fourth quarter, totaling nine point and five rebounds in the final period.
As for the Heat’s starting lineup, the Mitchell-Herro-Powell-Wiggins-Adebayo combination entered Wednesday outscoring opponents by 4.5 points per 100 possessions in 98 minutes together this season.
That group again was a positive on Wednesday, outscoring the Cavaliers by three points in 14 minutes together.
Powell was moved into the starting lineup on Wednesday in Larsson’s place after playing off the bench in three of the previous four games he was available for. Powell, who was the Heat’s lone All-Star this season, started in his first 49 appearances of the season prior to this brief stint as a reserve.
Heat second-year center Kel’el Ware was a bright spot for the Heat in the win.
The Heat used a bench rotation of Larsson, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis.
Ware, who has had an up-and-down second NBA season, turned in an impressive performance on Wednesday. He finished the win with 13 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and one block in 20 minutes and posted a positive plus/minus for just the second time in the last six games at a season-best plus 32.
The Heat improved 23-2 this season when Ware records a positive plus/minus.
Ware’s first shift for Adebayo was especially encouraging, as the Heat outscored the Cavaliers by 15 points to stretch a three-point lead into an 18 point advantage during a first-half stint that lasted 8:01.
The available players who weren’t in the Heat’s rotation on Wednesday were Simone Fontecchio, Myron Gardner, Nikola Jovic, Dru Smith and Keshad Johnson.
The only unavailable Heat players were the three-way contract trio of Vlad Goldin, Trevor Keels and Jahmir Young, who are all in the G League. Also, Terry Rozier remains away from the team following his October arrest.
With Wednesday’s win, the Heat improved to 4-3 in the seven games that it has had its full standard roster available for (not including Rozier).
The Cavaliers were without Jarrett Allen (right knee tendonitis), Craig Porter Jr. (left groin strain), Olivier Sarr (G League), Max Strus (left foot injury management), Jaylon Tyson (left great toe bone bruise) and Dean Wade (right ankle sprain) against the Heat.
With the help of Ware’s positive minutes, the Heat survived an inefficient shooting night from Adebayo.
Adebayo has been playing his best basketball of the season recently, averaging 28.9 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and 1.8 steals per game over his last 12 games.
But Adebayo missed most of his shots on Wednesday, finishing with 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting from the field and 1-of-9 shooting on threes in 33 minutes.
In the first half, Adebayo totaled just two points on 1-of-9 shooting from the field and 0-of-5 shooting on threes. But the Heat still entered halftime with a 17-point lead.
But Adebayo got it going in the second half, scoring 15 points in the final two qaurters.
While still in play-in tournament territory, the Heat moved up the Eastern Conference standings.
Wednesday’s win moved the Heat from 10th place to eighth place in the East, moving past the idle Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets.
The Heat (39-34) is now one-half game ahead of the ninth-place Hornets (38-34) and 10th-place Magic (38-34).
The NBA’s play-in tournament features the seventh-through-10th-place teams competing for the final two playoff seeds in each conference.
The Heat, which has needed to qualify for the playoffs through the NBA’s play-in tournament in each of the last three seasons, needs to finish among the East’s top six teams to clinch a playoff spot and avoid the play-in tournament.