It was never a pretty offensive night for either team, but the Miami Heat raced out to a 39-23 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday at home inside Kaseya Center.
Though the Heat was prone yet to another big lead slipping away, which it did once again. After it led by 16 with 8:33 left before halftime, the Cavaliers outscored Miami 30-13 for the remainder of the half and subsequently scored 13 unanswered to begin the second half, fueled by Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell.
Miami’s free-flowing offense quickly turned stagnant, which bled into its defense over the final 24 minutes, ultimately losing 111-99 to the Cavaliers Friday evening.
The Heat have lost five of their last seven games–three of which have come after possessing 15-plus point leads at some point during the game. Cleveland, meanwhile, has won five of its last six games.
Mitchell led all scorers with 27 points, 13 rebounds and six assists on 9-of-17 shooting, including 3-of-8 from 3-point range. Darius Garland, who picked up four very early first-half fouls, had 18 points and six assists with four steals in 26 minutes.
In his return to Miami, Max Strus tallied 11 points and seven rebounds; Georges Niang came alive in the second half, finishing with 13 points on 3-of-4 shooting from deep for Cleveland.
Jimmy Butler had 16 points with five boards for Miami; Kyle Lowry and Josh Richardson led all scoring with 17 points apiece, while Kevin Love finished with 14 points and 12 boards in 28 minutes off the bench.
Collectively, the Heat had a poor game on the glass–finishing a minus-10 in that area–combined with a ghastly 18 turnovers, which fueled 23 Cavaliers fastbreak points and 22 points off turnovers.
Friday night was a disappointing and incredibly sluggish game for the Miami Heat, who will have a chance to get back on track Monday against the Charlotte Hornets.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned for updates.
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We need defense and more of it.
watching lebron its amazing the energy he has every night.
You know, I thought of the same thing. It won’t surprise me if he enters the dunk contest in the year he retires, just to leave fans with something to ponder on.
The injuries to this team is killer and so our the blown leads. Something has to give. We might have to make a trade eventually, But until then we need to get healthy. I want to see how we do with a healthy squad, and if the outcome continues to be the same like last night ,then that let’s us know that we need to expedite the trade process.
Right now, the teams with the greatest likelihood of winding up at the top of the lottery are:
Riley may reach out to one or more of those teams in the near future to see which players they are interested in trading/acquiring. There are several very interesting possibilities.
GO HEAT!!!
Mediocre team with not enough good players on the roster and continued injury woes. The missed games, they are sure to continue. That is us. We need more. Can’t say it enough. It’s Jimmy’s last hurrah and not enough is being done to help him get a ring.
I’m not sure what can be done – right now – that would help Butler get a ring. Who is actually available? Our only logical tradable asset for a large acquisition is Herro and picks (plus Jovic, Highsmith). Being out the last few weeks limits his value. So who would you trade, and for whom?
We all expect one or two trades to happen to tweak the roster. You don’t think they’ve looked into Derozen and others? You can imagine that other teams would now want Jaquez included in a big trade and the Heat won’t agree to that (thankfully).
Yes, I would trade one of either Herro or Duncan, and draft picks, to upgrade. And that is because they both are valuable. Or Jovic and /or Highsmith could also be included to try and get a DeRozan level player. I would not trade Martin or JJJ or ORob, but anyone else not named Bam or Jimmy, could also be considered. That’s how I see it. Any combo of three, either two players and one pick, or one player, two picks, but only one #1, to get a DeRozan level player and it would be worth it, any less in quality, then you would trade less.
Add JRich to the list of players, 6, that should not be traded. Probably JRich would not be included anyway because he was so recently acquired. But he also plays a crucial position. So, 7 players need to be kept, one of Duncan or Tyler, and Bam, Jimmy, Caleb, JJJ, ORob, and JRich. Anyone else could be considered.
I would imagine they’ve put out feelers for the exact type of package for Derozen you suggest, and we’ve agreed on that. The other team needs to be willing as well.
With Herro being out for a while, his value is not at its highest. But Herro and draft picks for who? I’ve seen Rozier. But is that a real upgrade?
Rozier – 22.6, 3.6, 7.2 at 45.9/32.9/84.4, 29 years old. 6’1”.
Herro- 22.9, 5.0, 3.6 at 44.7/41.0/88.0. 23 years old. 6’5”.
Rozier has a defensive rating of 123.7. Herro 114.2.
Again, I’m not against trading anyone. As long as there’s a willing trade partner and fair value. It’s not like the Trade Machine where you plug in players, match up the numbers, and say ‘that works’.
Now, if you can arrange a Herro/Markkanen deal? Hmmm.
its time tojust put jjj in starting lineup give him his 35 mins let him shoot his 50%;instead of 12 pts like to see him get 20 a night.his handle and low post game are all star level.come on coach do it. can u adjust to the greatness of frank zappa .
As I previously mentioned, he is already getting starters minutes. Guess how many minutes he played last night? Yup, exactly 35.
Without Herro and Bam, and Robinson and especially Butler that bad, we shouldn’t expect more.
Butler is really bad lately, but I m afraid its not on him. He gets to his spots.
Just seems to me that most of the teams and coaches figured it out, how to play against him.
father time undefeated.hes had some good games lately to.when he has his legs hes good
Mama said there’d be days like this. The roller coaster ride continues…
The next four games, (two vs Charlotte, one at home and one at Charlotte) and two at home vs Chicago, will conclude the easy part of our schedule.Then the real season begins at home vs against Minnesota, @ Orlando, home vs Atlanta and Philadelphia, @ Golden State, @ Utah, @ Clippers,@ Lakers and @Phoenix and home vs Houston, Oklahoma City, Orlando.
Can Miami split those 16 games (9 home and 7 away) over the next five weeks? Time will tell.
Note: Heat dropped to 9th place tonight (1/2 game behind Brooklyn).
GO HEAT!!!
Lets put down those big guns in both conf 😁😁😁
Did not see the 2nd half I guess that’s for the best for my health lol
Heat could’ve jumped a few spots up the standings if they got the W. They seem disinterested this game