As the Miami Heat faced the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday night, taking a one-game road trip in the midst of the home-heavy part of the schedule, it resulted in a frustratingly close loss, 112-107. While it featured another dynamic game for Heat star Bam Adebayo, there was a moment in the contest featuring Ducnan Robinson that will no doubt sadden fans of the team.
While Cleveland dominated most of the game, Miami went on a run that gave them a seven-point lead midway through the fourth quarter and even led by five with four minutes and change left in the period.
The Cavs would come back to take a three-point lead where with under 20 seconds left, Robinson would shoot a three and make it which would have tied, but a whistle was called mere moments before as he stepped out of bounds. It was a moment that was “painful” to the star according to The Miami Herald.
“Progress is sometimes painful,” Robinson said. “This has been a painful process for sure, being in all these games, being right there. It’s just a matter of getting over the hump. There are no moral victories with this group.”
“I was incredulous because I didn’t think I was that close to the sideline,” Robinson continued. “I watched the film. It’s still kind of hard to tell.”
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Masterful performance from Bam Adebayo wasted in Heat loss to Cavs
Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) during the first half at Rocket Arena.
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
After the Heat's captain in Adebayo broke the record for the franchise's most double-doubles, the weight was on his shoulder Wednesday as the team was missing Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel'el Ware, and Nikola Jovic.
He quite possibly had his most impressive performance of the season as he's currently on a hot streak, finishing the contest with 34 points on 11 for 18 shooting from the field, three of five deep, making all of his nine free throw attempts. Those statistics would go along with 12 rebounds, five assists, and two steals he had somewhat of a bright side to the team's performance with the loss.
“It’s tough when you’re down dudes and still have a chance to win and it slips out of your hands,” Adebayo said after the loss on Wednesday night. “As you see we can hang with the best of them.”
“Early in the season, everyone was questioning my shot, what I need to do different,” Adebayo continued. “Nothing has changed. I’m still taking the same shots. At some point, the table has got to turn.”
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Emotional return for Heat star, team going through “pain” at the moment
Despite the loss, it was a special moment for Heat veteran Kevin Love who got to return to Cleveland where he won a championship in 2016 and played there from 2014-2023. This was his first game in the city playing for the Heat since he missed the previous two for personal reasons and a heel injury as he started the game with the injuries and even gave him a tribute video.
“It was certainly emotional,” Love said. “Cleveland and Ohio will always mean a lot for me. Just a lot of love for a lot of people here. It does feel good to be acknowledged in a place where we won and did a lot of special things together as a group.”
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Even with the loss, Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra sees the bright side, even saying that he's seen “improvements the last three weeks” in the offense, going as far to mention that the “pain” felt now will pay off down the line according to The Sun Sentinel.
“There’s been intention from the players to really try to help each other get good shots,” Spoelsra said. “I really love that quality about this team. There’s significant improvement on both sides of the ball. Defensively, we’re playing way more consistently, making it tough. And then offensively, we’ve probably had the biggest jumps of improvement the last three weeks.”
The pain’s got to hurt enough to put us over the top,” Spoelstra continued.
At any rate, Miami is now 29-32 which puts them seventh in the Eastern Conference as they return home to host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.