After the Cleveland Cavaliers set a playoff record for made 3s in one quarter and led by as much as 19 Wednesday night, Miami crawled back to make it a one-possession game late. Though it was not enough to overcome Donovan Mitchell’s stout play late, as the Cavaliers secured a 121-112 win in Game 2, going up 2-0.
Led by Mitchell, Cleveland’s star backcourt combined to score 51 of the team’s 121 points with additional contributions from Evan Mobley, Max Strus and De’Andre Hunter, who scored 12 points off the bench in Game 2 after going scoreless in Game 1. They didn’t have the Ty Jerome explosion they did in Game 1, but it was just enough to survive a late Heat surge, led by Davion Mitchell and Tyler Herro.
Cavaliers guard Darius Garland had some pointed comments after Wednesday’s win about their game plan for playing efficient, clean basketball against the Heat.
And, well, he couldn’t have been more clear about who they were targeting.
“Pick on Tyler Herro,” Garland said after the game
https://x.com/mph_824_/status/1915252503886913874. “Take care of the ball. Don’t play in tight spaces. Pick on their weak defenders. Go after them.”
The Cavaliers relentlessly targeted Tyler Herro in Game 1, with the team posting nearly a 180 offensive rating when he was guarding Garland, Mitchell or Jerome. There was no hiding him. There was a bullseye on his chest every time down.
Cleveland was still trying its hardest to put him in the action often in Game 2, though there wasn’t as much success.
Herro had a much better all-around game, even though there were still moments of bad play from him not only defensively, but with his decision-making and trying to create when nobody else could. He finished with 33 points, six rebounds and five assists on 14-of-24 shooting and 4-of-11 from 3-point range.
I’m curious to see how Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra will continue and try and hide the Heat’s first-time All-Star. At certain moments, you could tell the others were trying to fight through screens and not forego the easy switch–though they would still create the advantages they wanted with Herro in the action.
Frankly, we are now realizing a reality where one of the Heat’s two-best players is getting relentlessly attacked, which isn’t good. That wasn’t the case with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. The best place where Herro could get defensively to is likely league average (while improved, he’s still not that close … yet), but even that might not be enough to shut off the water when the calendar turns mid-April–especially with how the roster is currently constructed.
Now, it’s time for Herro to respond. Check ball.
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Its an uphill battle for the Heat. Clearly Cavs are the better team both ends coz, again, they’re #1 in east. But every team is beatable. Spo and co need to find out how. If not, its an early exit and wasted pick.