The Miami Heat waltzed into Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse and crushed the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday evening, 129-96. It marked the most points the Heat have ever scored and their largest margin-of-victory against the Cavaliers in their series history.
The Heat have now won nine of their last 10 games and snapped Cleveland’s three-game winning streak. It marks the first Heat 30-point victory since it beat the Bucks by 42–137-95–on opening night of the 2021-22 season.
Wednesday evening was Miami’s 45th 30-point victory in franchise history, including the postseason. They now have 32 since the start of the 21st century and seven since the conclusion of the Big 3 era.
Without Bam Adebayo, who missed Wednesday’s game with a hip contusion, the Heat only needed 65 points from their starters. Kyle Lowry led with a season-high 28 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including 7-of-9 from 3-point range; 19 of Lowry’s points came in the first half, beginning 5-of-5 from distance.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting and 4-of-4 from deep in 28 minutes off the bench, in addition to seven rebounds, one assist and one steal. Caleb Martin, Orlando Robinson and Josh Richardson all had 14 points apiece.
Robinson had eight rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks in 27 minutes as the backup five. Martin had his best game of the season, knocking down five of his 12 shots.
Jimmy Butler, Haywood Highsmith and Thomas Bryant all scored 10 points apiece. Bryant had seven rebounds in 23 minutes while Highsmith had six boards, five assists, one steal and two blocks. Butler also had a pair of steals and blocks with nine assists and four boards.
Craig Porter Jr. led the Cavaliers with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting with five assists, one steal and two blocks in 35 minutes. Darius Garland had 14 points and three assists; Evan Mobley tallied a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double in 25 minutes. Georges Niang had 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from distance.
In Max Strus’ first game against Miami since departing in free agency, he knocked down a pair of threes with three rebounds and three assists.
Over the Heat’s last 10 games, they have the league’s No. 2 NET Rating at plus-8.6; they have the No. 9 offense with the No. 7 defense over that stretch. Their offense scored 134.4 points per 100 possessions–including a 111.4 offensive rating in the halfcourt–in non-garbage time situations to Cleveland’s 103.2 points per 100, per Cleaning The Glass.
Miami’s now 6-0 when allowing less than 108.0 points per 100 possessions in non-garbage time situations.
What were your initial thoughts and reactions from tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments!
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Another good review for Jaquez.
https://sircharlesincharge.com/posts/nba-rookie-ladder-2-0-jaime-jaquez-jr-makes-waves/6
Funny and true. Goes with what 2qbn said below.
He will never be better then 3th, because high pick gets advantage here, but he deserves his place.
Not bad for 18th pick we didn’t need to tank to get. Jus sayin.
I’m just glad we didn’t listen to many here who wanted to fire and trade everyone after a few games. We knew the starters didn’t play at all together in preseason, as well as various injuries. But anyone could see we had talent and depth. That we had the best overall roster we have had in a bit with regards to matchup options. We still lack true PG depth, but they are doing what all Heat teams do. They tread water or exceed while seeing what potential moves come up over the course of the year.
Jaime is having an amazing start to his rookie campaign. A lot of rookies tend to hit a wall due to the schedule and other professionals taking him seriously defensively. I’m going to enjoy watching if it happens with him and if he’s able to fight through it or maybe he doesn’t hit a wall at all. Such a fun player and easy to root for. I think his overall knowledge of the game at this point will help him maintain. Let’s see.
We saw plenty of him pivoting in the rim in preseason, not so much now. He is more a shooter, playmaker and runner now.
Skills are there, he can be new Jimmy one day, and a better shooter.
Dominant win.
It was against a tired team but we did what you’re supposed to do against a tired team, run them off the @#*& floor.
Bryant and ORob were terrific against the Cav’s frontline.
However I still prefer to see KLove as the backup C.
Jimmy plays so much better when he’s playing with Love at C because of all the spacing he gets to operate with.
In fact his 2 man game with Love this year has been even better than his 2 man game with Bam.
If no K Love at backup C then I would prefer to see ORob get those mins.
Or maybe even experiment with Jovic at that position for a few games to see how it goes.
Just no Thomas Bryant please, that dude is seriously overrated.
Dude hasn’t had a single positive plus/minus season since he came into the league.
Seven years in the nba and not one single positive year.
Seems to be a good dude but I would prefer it if his job right now was to lead the bench in cheering.
“Jaime Butler” has a certain ring to it. Compare Jimmy’s rookie and 2nd year stats to Jaime’s.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/butleji01.html
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jaqueja01.html
Sunman posted stats here. Let me share some…
https://allucanheat.com/posts/what-miami-heat-best-lineup-combinations-tell-us-about-this-season?fbclid=IwAR0Szw-_q3W7Jwr86i8wywKYtTJBZzxVB_L0uLDKbVGfnMaUJxa47HjYaaI
Excellently done. Thank you for sharing.
“In 116 minutes, the four-man lineup of Lowry, Butler, Highsmith and Bam is out-scoring opponents by 18.2 points every 100 possessions. They are nearly as effective with Herro (plus-13.4) as Robinson (plus-19.7) as the fifth starter.”
“According to Cleaning the Glass, lineups with Lowry, Robinson and Highsmith are posting a defensive rating of 105.4, which would rank first in the NBA.”
When I say the Heat are fine, critics say they are not fine but ok. I rest my case.
I guess that settles it. As long as Lowry can perform at an acceptable level and Richardson can fill in on the second unit, the Heat has enough depth and different combinations of players to hold their own. If it appears they need reinforcements at the PG or PF positions, then Pat and Spo will need to re-examine possible trades.
Meanwhile, Robinson, Bryant, Jovic, Cain, Hampton, Smith and Swider can continue to work on their games so they are ready if/when they are called upon to help. It’s great to have so much depth and versatility with different combinations of players.
The true tests will be when the team starts getting a steady diet of winning and top tier teams. The next five games (New York, Brooklyn, Milwaukee and Indiana twice) should prove revealing, especially if they can go 4-1 or 5-0.
Time will tell.
GO HEAT!!!
Yesterday, is the reason why I like Spo and Pat Riley. They listen to their critics.
-Bam and Love did not play, because the Heat will waive them soon.
-The rest of the team, they put on display for the highest bidder to bid for at the next trade line.
-Trust Lowry and JJJ to cash in.They want to go first to the highest bidder, so they scored 28 and 22 points respectively to get the most attention.
-Dru Smith, said “don’t touch me, I am “Heat for life”. So he put a stinking zero score and then intentionally got injured to scare away teams from bidding for him.
-Buttler and co with miserly scores, implied to teams that “what you see, is what you will get”.
Trade away the whole team for a point guard the Heat lifers have chanted all season to those who will listen. Oh, they beat a tired team playing back to back they chorused.
“Yes, we have heard” says Spo and Pat with yesterday’s masterly performance by a team without a “quality” point guard.
Spo and Pat, if this is how you intend to appease your critics, I am with you all the way.
Happy Thanksgiving from Uranus to you, inhabitants of Earth, for sharing the NBA with us!
Happy Thanksgiving Heat fans. Many blessings this holiday season to all of your families & friends.
Thank you all for welcoming me to the board.
Glad to be here.
This is a very impressive Miami Heat team folks.
Let’s Go Heat!
Now with Dru possibly injuried and Herro injuried, we have one (1) true, 37 old guard, and a bunch of guards/forwards in Butler, Jaques, Martin , JRich, Dunc, Cain, which can all play some point.
I thought this is a guards league.
Yes, we beat a tired team. But, not sure many teams would have been able to keep up with us tonite. The tandem of Bryant/O Rob gives us a depth we didn’t have before. This team is capable of big things, especially if Lowry plays like that. And JRich is an adequate backup, at least as good as Gabe was for us.
Now to get negative just a little. First, with ORob emerging, and Bryant, we don’t need Kevin, unless he hits threes, which he seldom does. He is a defensive liability and can’t score like Bryant or ORob inside. Second, I am starting to agree that Tyler is best used in a trade. We can’t expect Kyle to play like that every nite. We need another guard and this team would have everything. Ty could bring in trade that ball handling distributor who can also hit threes. Duncan has become so solid you feel like he meshes with everyone better than Ty. And, at off guard we have enough scoring with Caleb looking great again and JJJ apparently becoming an excellent addition who the only question is, what is his ceiling?
The outlook for the Heat is so much brighter than when the season started as many positives have emerged, another one being the very useful HH.
That’s my point of view. We are closer to being able to go deep again. These next three games will be telling as to just how good we are.
If what you’re saying is that we can get a high quality player in an area of need, fine. I’m not against trading anyone as long as we get a fair return. However, I take exception to anyone that considers Herro selfish or expendable for players that aren’t as good. His 5 rebounds and 5 apg indicate a willingness to share the ball. As for shot volume, most shooters/scorers take a high volume of shots – it’s what they do. Herro is at 23ppg, 41% 3p%, 88% ft, and improved defense (most do see this. Not good yet, just better). He is the team’s leading scorer, tied for most apg, 5th in rebounds, tied for 1st in steals. He’s not perfect, but he is a valuable asset.
Which two-way PG are you talking about trading Tyler for who can bring in close to 20+/5+/5+ per game? The only PG I would consider who has somewhat close to those stats is Malcolm Brogdon, who makes less, is older and is on shorter contract. Plus, I don’t think there is a strong desire for a Miami/Portland trade, either way, after the Dame fiasco/ clusterf***. There are other, lesser PGs out there, but none are worth trading Herro for.
Short of trading Herro, what Miami needs is a good two-way PG to share minutes with Lowry and be groomed to take the starting spot later this season or next. If Hampton can demonstrate that he has that potential, I would keep Herro as starting SG or 6th man (since Duncan’s defense has improved and he has his shooting mojo back). Miami, like all NBA teams, can use all the three point shooters it can get. If Richardson continues improving, he may be an adequate back-up PG until a determination is made whether Hampton is the future PG the team is looking for or if a trade must be made before the deadline.
Miami has more than enough support off the bench, (with either Herro or Duncan), along with Jaquez, Richardson, Caleb, Love, Jovic, ORobinson, Bryant, Cain,etc. The last thing Miami needs to do is F*** Herro’s head up (some more) with renewed trade rumors. Jus sayin.
GO HEAT!!!
I agree with this 1000%!!
Thangya vera mush.
Both you guys make a lot of sense. The Brogdon trade you mention is a good one but you are probably right about trading with Portland. He is exactly what we need though. It’s not that Tyler is selfish or not a good player. I like and appreciate what he brings. It’s just the place where we have the most redundancy, the area of least need. Caleb could be going to a higher level, not unlike Bam is doing this year. I agree you can’t have too many three point shooters but we need help at the point more. And, there is possibly a reason for us getting better results without Ty. Call it the Austin Reaves factor. That very good player recently was taken out of his starter role for the Lakers because he held the ball for four seconds instead of distributing it. Ty does the same thing. The ball needs to be passed in about two and a half seconds like Lowry does. Ty should be used as an off ball, shooting guard.
The return of Duncan’s confidence, improved defense, playmaking, newfound ability to drive and create his own shots and better all around game (14.5 ppg and 43% 3-pt shooting) make him a very viable starting SG. With Herro coming off the bench to take advantage of opponents’ inferior second unit defenders, he could conceivably have a higher ppg average in the same or fewer minutes as before. As long as he gets his minutes, points and pay, he has no reason to complain.
The problem is that Lowry is 37 years old (turning 38 in March). He is no longer the 37mpg, 7apg, 22ppg PG he was in his prime. As I have said before, he is an excellent back-up PG and mentor to younger PGs. However, he is not the PG of the future. The other problem is that Herro is not/does not want to be a PG. He is a shooter/scorer. Spo tried to start Herro at PG in 2021 and it didn’t work. He looks to shoot first and pass second. The Heat need another legitimate playmaker who can play defense and score. A younger version of Lowry. There aren’t many of those types of players around these days. Malcolm Brogdon, who is 30, is one of them.
I can see Hampton as the team’s future PG. Smith could be a version of Vincent 2.0, but I don’t think Miami has the time to wait for his development. It took years to develop Vincent into a starter, yet his stats in 2023 were very mediocre (9.4 ppg, 2.5 apg, 2.1 rpg, 33.4% – 3 pt shooting in 25.9 mpg). He is doing worse inLos Angeles this season.
The only other options are to trade for a starting PG who is “good to go” immediately or a younger one who can be groomed to be in the starting role by the playoffs or next season at the latest. Lowry (if he is not traded before the deadline) could still be brought back next year in a back-up PG, mentor role on a discounted contract, if it is mutually acceptable to both parties.
Oh and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
You too!
Igualmente.
Most complete game this year. Bam was out, and Dunc and Butler a bit off. But the rest were all good, and Lowry excellent. Losing Dru for longer time would be a bummer.
Wire to wire excellent performance by the Heat against a tired Cavs team. 20 made 3s! Lowry started the fire others followed. Next game Knicks looking for a little revenge. Hope Bam plays but if he needs the rest, next man up. Get well soon Dru.
Pretty impressive stats…and rising.
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/MIA/miami-heat/stats/regular/?table=TeamStatsTableNba-PlayerStats-Scoring&sortcol=ppg&sortdir=descending
The team put it all together tonight. They played excellent team and individual defense and played a great uptempo game. They were spreading the floor, hitting their open shots, driving and dishing and battling on the boards. The second unit looked like the best one in the league this year. It is easy to see that these guys like each other and enjoy playing together as a team, regardless of their individual roles. Its a team game and everyone feels a part of the team’s success. Overall, it was the most complete game the Heat has played in a long, long time. That’s two blowouts in a row.
Boston is in first place and four teams (Miami, Milwaukee, Orlando and Philly) are tied for second. I get a feeling it’s going to be a real dogfight this year.
Miami plays in New York on Friday and Brooklyn on Saturday then is home vs Milwaukee on Tuesday and Indiana on Thursday and Saturday.
Onward and upward!
GO HEAT!!!
“As the bench goes, so goes is the Heat” is all I have been chanting since the season started.
and if jim and bam are bad ?
…..a probability of 1:1000,000,000 odds of happening.
Well, if there is a one in a billion chance to be negative, he’ll find it and embrace it! 😂
….actually that happened yesterday with Bam not playing and Jim scoring 10 points. But still the bench played masterfully well and proved that “as the bench goes, so goes the Heat”. Now without occurrence yesterday, we now have 999,999,999 chance of it happening again!
It was nice to get an easy win for a change. Congratulations to Bryant and O Robinson for their combined 24/15/3/2/4 stat line. Best game of the season for Lowry. Jaquez continues to amaze. In one early 2023 redraft, it had Jaquez going 7th. I agree.
Everyone contributed to this win. On to NYC!
You said everything I was going to. Those four players having good games is very encouraging going forward.
“easy win”…..then if Heat had lost, it will be said “the Heat played down low to the competition”. Common guys, give the team a break. (lol).
i read somewhere that Tonight, he became the oldest Heat player with 28 in a game, passing Dwyane Wade. way to go Kyle!
We straight up dismantled the cavs. Lowry was unbelievable with the offense tonight, he needs to shoot more 3’s. Jimmy didn’t shoot well, but was are best facilitator, and pulled bigs away from the paint. JJJ is special and his feel the game is insane, he gonna be first team all- rookie. Martin is getting better every game. Jrich was good and so was Bryant, and locksmith. Duncan was ok and didn’t even need his scoring. Orlando Robinson was very impactful, he has bright future, and love his size. Lastly get well soon dru. P.s our depth is extraordinary.