Cavs beat Heat (by half a shoe)

The Cavs beat the Heat last night. Duncan Robinson buried a game-tying three-pointer, but he stepped out of bounds before shooting. The Cavs were favored by 12.5 points. Any Heat fan figured before the game that the 51-10 Cavs would embarrass the Heat. Also, the Heat were short many injured players. But the shorthanded team banded together and pushed the Cavs the distance.

In the last few games Coach Spoelstra has praised the team saying that they are “a resilient group.” He also has given a “coach’s code” that he sees habits, routines and intentions that players are following that are good. Coach Kenny Atkinson also gave coach’s code, saying the Cavs would “have their hands full” if they played Miami in the first round.

Bam had a great night

Adebayo finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Adebayo was the #1 option with Herro injured and he delivered against the best team in the East. As per Ira Winderman in the Sun Sentinel, Adebayo says, “for us, like I said, it’s not glaring mistakes. It’s the small stuff between the lines that a lot of people don’t notice — missed box outs, offensive rebounding.”

Heat responded to Cavs punch

The Cavaliers went up by 17 in the second quarter. This appeared to be the knockout punch and the start of a long night. The score was 43-60 with 3:19 remaining in the second quarter. Here was the Heat offensive sequence:

• Rozier cutting layup, exploited lax Cavs coverage from out-of-bounds entry.
• Adebayo finds soft spot in zone for jumper.
• Adebayo to the foul line.
• Adebayo gets a running layup.
• Davion Mitchell hits two free throws
• Rozier hits a three-pointer.

The Heat went on a 16-3 run to end the quarter. There was only one three-pointer made versus the offense “moving the defense around” and attacking. The Heat were down by four at the end of the third and took a seven-point lead in the fourth. The formula was the same: “balanced offense.”

But, down 108-107 with 2:48 remaining, this was the offensive sequence for the Heat:

• 2:15 remaining — missed three-pointer
• 1:45 remaining — missed three-pointer
• 1:39 remaining — missed three three-pointer
• :59 remaining — missed three-pointer

This was the critical point of the game — the Heat, with more patience, should’ve relied on better shot selection to get fouls and/or layups. There was enough time left not to desperately attempt long three-pointers.