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Andrew Wiggins ruins Donovan Mitchell's buzzer-beater with one of his own
Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins. Rhona Wise-Imagn Images

Andrew Wiggins ruins Donovan Mitchell's buzzer-beater with one of his own

On a Monday night full of buzzer-beaters in the NBA, Donovan Mitchell drilled a three with 0.4 seconds left in overtime. He only got to enjoy his big shot for a moment before Andrew Wiggins answered with a game-winning, buzzer-beating dunk.

The Miami Heat beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 140-138, in a back-and-forth battle that saw eight lead changes and four ties in the last 5:12 of regulation. Jaime Jaquez Jr. tied the game with 7.1 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, and in the overtime, no team ever led by more than three points.

Donovan Mitchell continued his excellent season

Mitchell scored 28 points in the loss, gathering 15 rebounds and eight assists. The one thing he didn't do well Monday night was shoot the three ball, going 2-for-15 from deep  — until the final seconds of overtime.

Cleveland went to Sam Merrill for the game-tying shot instead of Mitchell, but Spida chased down the offensive rebound and nailed a high-arcing three over the outstretched arm of seven-footer Kel'el Ware while falling down. It was an incredible play, with the only downside being that there were still 0.4 seconds left on the clock for Miami.

But the Cavaliers focused too much on Norman Powell, who had 33 points, and lost track of Wiggins on the final play. He streaked to the hoop and finished an alley-oop to get the Heat the win.

The Heat have new go-to players this season without old stars

In previous seasons, the Heat in crunch time would have gone to Jimmy Butler, who was traded to the Golden State Warriors last season, or Tyler Herro, who has been out all season after surgery on his foot and ankle.

They're getting 24.5 points per game from Powell, obtained in a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers. Wiggins, who had 23 points Monday, is averaging 17.8 points and shooting 40 percent on threes. Jaquez is averaging 17.5 PPG and he had 22 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists in the win.

The result is that the Heat are tough to guard in big moments. Miami scored 12 points in OT, with five different players scoring. Eight different Heat players scored in the third, when Wiggins nearly matched Mitchell's 13 points with a dozen of his own.

It's a testament to the Heat's egalitarian system, where coach Erik Spoelstra has trusted his players to read the defenses and react, despite having no superstars. Of course, Spoelstra showed he can call plays when he needs to with the highly-rare game-winning alley-oop play.

The Heat are 7-4 and their All-Star guard hasn't played a single game. It took them until the final milliseconds Monday, but they showed they can hang with any team this season.

Sean Keane

Sean Keane is a sportswriter and a comedian based in Oakland, California, with experience covering the NBA, MLB, NFL and Ice Cube’s three-on-three basketball league, The Big 3. He’s written for Comedy Central’s “Another Period,” ESPN the Magazine, and Audible. com

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