Cavaliers' win over Heat further proves it hasn't been easy to maintain success

Robinson's game-tying three didn't count and the Cavaliers defeated the Miami Heat Wednesday night, 112-107. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra couldn't challenge the call since the Heat used their last timeout when they couldn't get the ball in bounds seconds earlier. The team was forced to foul, Darius Garland salted away the game with two free throws and Cleveland improved to 51-10.

During their winning streak, their third of 12 or more games this season, Cleveland has been seriously challenged a few times. The Cavs needed a DeAndre Hunter three with 30 seconds left to beat the Portland Trail Blazers in overtime Sunday.

Friday, the Boston Celtics opened the game on a 25-3 run, but the Cavaliers tied the game early in the fourth quarter and went on to win, 123-116, behind 41 points from Donovan Mitchell.

Cleveland's other close call came in the first game of the streak, where they needed Darius Garland to hit a 31-foot buzzer-beater from the Pistons' logo to take down the Detroit Pistons, 118-115.

One common thread in the streak is that the Cavaliers aren't relying on any single player. Wednesday, Mitchell led the team in points with 26, Garland led them in assists with 10, All-Star Evan Mobley led the Cavs with 13 rebounds — and the most important player might have been Hunter.

Hunter, in only his 10th game with the Cavaliers, scored 16 points off the bench, had a game-high plus-minus of +18 and assisted on Mobley's go-ahead basket before a contested floater to give Cleveland a three-point lead late. All he does is win, at least in a Cavs uniform (He's 10-0).

And even though the Cavaliers had out-of-bounds turnovers on three possessions in the last two minutes, their defense pressured Miami into going out of bounds twice themselves, and missing their last five shots.

After all, if you're going to pull off three 12-game win streaks in a season, you'll occasionally need your opponents to mess up. Or wear especially big shoes.

The Cavs' 12th consecutive win did have a major impact leaguewide, as they became the first team to clinch a playoff berth.