The Cavaliers didn’t just beat the Miami Heat in Game 3. They steamrolled ‘em, 124-87, and let’s be real: this series is all but over, with the Cavs up 3-0. You don’t come back from that, not against a team this deep, this dialed in.
Cleveland has its foot on the gas, and the Heat are running out of road.
What’s jumping out? Kenny Atkinson’s Cavs are a chameleon. Games 1 and 2 were all about the guards — Donovan Mitchell and company slicing through switches, playmakers dictating the tempo.
But with Darius Garland sidelined in Game 3, nursing that nagging toe sprain, Atkinson flipped the script. He went big, and man, did it pay off.
Jarrett Allen, who’d been quiet with just eight buckets total in the first two games, erupted for seven in the first half alone. He and Evan Mobley combined for a monstrous 41 points, bullying Miami for a 60-30 edge in the paint. That’s not a game plan; that’s a demolition.
Then you’ve got the bench mob. Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter were straight-up unfair, dropping 34 points together and posting plus-30s like they were playing a pickup game at the Y. Cleveland’s depth isn’t just a luxury, it’s a weapon, and Atkinson’s spent all season sharpening it. He’s got gears for days, and right now, the Cavs are cruising in overdrive.
Looking ahead to Game 4 (Monday, 7:30 p.m.), don’t expect Cleveland to let up. Atkinson’s been preaching trust in this group’s maturity, and it showed in a 1 p.m. tip-off in Miami’s house — no focus issues, no slippage.
The Cavs haven’t trailed in the second half all series. Miami’s got that “Heat Culture” grit, sure, and they’ve only been swept once in their history, but the Cavs are too smart, too efficient to let this drag.
They know playoff energy is a finite resource, and with or without Garland, they’ll look to slam the door. The Heat will fight, because that’s who they are. But the Cavs? They’re moving on. It’s just a matter of when.
- Dribbles | It’s all over now, as Cavs snuff out Heat
- More Cavaliers | Cavs clobber Heat, take commanding 3-0 lead
- Related | Barkley: Cavs will win series in four or five
- Box Score | Cavs 124, Heat 87
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