It was an absolute rout in Cleveland tonight as the Cavaliers worked to avoid their second straight loss. Just two days after their previous meeting against the Heat (they lost 120-103), the Cavs successfully enacted revenge on Miami with an impressive win (149-128) that saw them leading from the jump.
Max Strus was the unlikely leading scorer for Cleveland, pouring 29 points, eight rebounds, one assist, and zero steals on 71.4% shooting and 72.7% shooting from three. As the starting power forward, Evan Mobley dropped 23 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, one steal, and zero blocks on 66.7% shooting and 50.0% shooting from three, while James Harden finished with 17 points, five rebounds, 14 assists, two steals, and zero blocks on 36.4% shooting and 33.3% shooting from three. For the Heat, Jaime Jaquez Jr. led the way with 20 points, two rebounds, three assists, zero steals, and one block on 69.2% shooting and 40.0% shooting from three.
It began with a 40-point first quarter for the Cavaliers, which gave them a 13-point lead to start the game. They did even better in the second half, holding the Heat to just 19 points to build up an 81-46 lead. It wasn’t until the second half that Miami started showing some signs of life, and that’s where they began to close the gap. In the end, however, a final 41-point quarter from Cleveland sealed the result, putting them back in the win column.
In an extremely high-scoring game, many factors played a role in the score, but a few reasons stand out above the rest. Specifically, there are three primary factors that drove the results, and they tell a greater story of how each team is preparing for the upcoming playoff fight.
Major Bench Production
Donovan Mitchell is typically the go-to scorer for the Cavaliers, but he was struggling with his shot today, with just six points, four rebounds, six assists, four steals, and zero blocks on 10.0% shooting and 0-3 shooting from three. Without his usual production, the Cavs had to look elsewhere for points, and the second unit delivered. With the Heat’s bench going off for 64 total points, it only put more pressure on the supporting cast to step up and rise to the occasion.
In total, three bench players reached double figures for the Cavaliers, including Keon Ellis, Thomas Bryant, and Max Strus. Strus, in particular, went off in this game with 29 points, eight rebounds, one assist, zero steals, and zero blocks on 71.4% shooting and 72.7% shooting from three. So while the Heat may have won the bench battle on paper, Cleveland’s supporting cast stepped up in just the right way to widen the margin for error and match any run that the competition had.
Elite Ball Movement
There’s no better sign of a team’s chemistry than how they share the basketball. For the Cavs, this game showed all the positive signs. For a team this freshly put together, it would have been far too easy to resort to isolation-style basketball and depend on the stars to bail them out. Instead, like an experienced and battle-tested team, they stuck to the game plan on offense, refusing to settle for anything less than a good look. Thanks to 38 team assists (compared to Miami’s 25), they maintained a steady offensive rhythm that led to one of their highest-scoring games of the season (149).
In the end, it was far from a perfect game for the Cavaliers, but it was an example of how the offense can look when things are clicking. Beyond the scoring of any one individual, the Cavaliers are deep enough to keep up with any lineup if they play the right way and cater to each other’s strengths. Tonight, they did that well with 53.6% shooting from the field and 46.3% shooting from three.
The Jarrett Allen Effect
Jarrett Allen returned to the lineup tonight after missing the past 10 games for the Cavs. Evan Mobley was doing well enough at center without him, but Allen’s return has changed things. With 18 points, 10 rebounds, zero assists, zero steals, and zero blocks on 80.0% shooting, Allen looked like his usual self on the court, and the result was consistent defensive pressure in the paint.
The added size and physicality made a huge and very noticeable difference for the Cavs, who secured 46 rebounds while holding Miami to 44.0% shooting as a team. Their defensive identity was totally different today, and it helped open up the floor on the other end. With Allen and Mobley going forward, this is the type of defense we’ll be seeing more often from this team, and it’ll make them al the more dangerous once the playoffs roll around.
