The Cleveland Cavaliers completed their sweep over the Miami Heat with a dominant 138-83 win, a margin of 55 points. This was the Heat’s final game of the season, as they went out worse than most people would’ve even predicted.
Game 1 saw the Cavaliers pick up a 21-point win (100-121), while Game 2 saw the closest game of the series, a nine-point win (121-112) for Cleveland. The two Miami home matchups in Games 3 and 4 were ruthless, with the Heat picking up a 37-point win (124-87) in Game 3 before tonight’s incredible 55-point win.
With a total margin of 122 points over the Heat, this series win is officially the most one-sided in NBA history.
“The Cavaliers just broke the record for the most lopsided playoff sweep ever. Cleveland outscored Miami by 122 points. They also surpassed the 1986 Lakers for the largest margin of victory in ANY four-game playoff span, regardless of series. The previous record was 109.”
The Cavaliers routed the Heat in every single game of this season, showing the stark difference in quality between the two sides. It also shows why No. 10 seeds shouldn’t be in high-octane Playoff situations because of the Play-In tournament, as it’s very easy to safely say that someone like the Atlanta Hawks or the Chicago Bulls would’ve likely avoided such a bad loss.
Both the Hawks and Bulls would likely get swept, but they were a far more competitive team than the Heat after February. Miami went 13-21 after the Jimmy Butler trade, but the East is so weak that their 37-45 record was good enough for the No. 10 seed, after which they picked up two Play-In wins to become the first No. 10 seed in the Playoffs.
I would rather watch competition over dominance. This series was anything but competitive and wouldn’t have attracted major casual interest unless they wanted to see how the proud and gritty Heat are being taken to the cleaners by a team few saw as a preseason title contender.
The Cavaliers didn’t have a standout production player either, being led by Donovan Mitchell’s 23.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists. Darius Garland even missed Game 3 of the series, but someone who didn’t follow each game would likely not even know this was the case. The Cavaliers are leagues ahead of the Heat right now, who will target a major rebuild this summer.
Cleveland now awaits the winner of the Indiana Pacers vs. Milwaukee Bucks series, with the Pacers up 3-1. The Bucks lost Damian Lillard to an Achilles tear, so we likely won’t see Milwaukee execute the historic comeback.
