On a night dedicated to a star, Heat shine bright in dismantling of Cavs
Heat guard Kendrick Nunn works on the move Saturday against the Cavaliers.
MIAMI — The coronation came at halftime, Dwyane Wade’s iconic No. 3 raised to the rafters at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The celebration by his former team was well under way by then, the Miami Heat scoring a franchise-record 82 first-half points in what turned into a 124-105 rout Saturday night of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Playing with the spirit that has defined their Miami dominance this season, even on the nights when a franchise icon isn’t being honored, the Heat improved to 23-3 at home, up by 30 at the intermission, focus on this most special of nights not waning.
“The last 48 hours have been really good for all those guys in that locker room,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of the Wade moments, as well as his team’s own.
“And then to come in and be able to have the performance we did, I just wanted to make sure we played well enough in the first half where we didn’t have to meet. Our guys saw the big picture.”
In their first home game since Feb. 3, the Heat showed just about all their possibilities, shooting a staggering .769 in the first half, also a franchise record.
Even with Jimmy Butler missing due to what the team cited as personal reasons, all five starters were in double figures by half, no concerns this time with Tyler Herro and Meyers Leonard still sidelined.
In many ways, it was as if a carryover from All-Star Saturday, with Duncan Robinson draining 3-pointers, Derrick Jones Jr. slamming dunks and Bam Adebayo demonstrating his contest-winning skill set with his passing.
It reached the point where there even was a turn for likely the next jersey in the rafters, with No. 40 Udonis Haslem entering at the start of the fourth quarter, when the Heat led, 106-78.
Kendrick Nunn led the Heat with 24 points, with the Cavaliers losing for the 18th consecutive time in Miami.
Five degrees of Heat from game:
Just a
Saturday’s
completely
different
1. Home again: team at home.
This time the Heat’s home statement included converting their first four 3-point attempts, pushing their lead into double digits less than 10 minute in, and then to a 20-point lead 20 minutes in.
The Heat’s only home losses remain against the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics.
“We just feel comfortable here,” guard Goran Dragic said. “Maybe it’s us sleeping in our own beds; maybe it’s them being out in Miami. I don’t know, but it’s working.”
Now the test will be to back up the performance Monday in Cleveland, which will be followed by a five-game homestand.
The Heat are 13-17 on the road.
2. Olynyk again: Having previously lost the starting role he was holding in the absence of Leonard, Kelly Olynyk was back in the opening lineup, shooting 4 of 4 from the field and 3 of 3 on 3-pointers in his initial stint.
That opening run was cut short when Olynyk was forced to the bench with his second foul with 2:47 left in the opening period, ending the quarter with 11 points.
Olynyk closed with 17 points, shooting 4 of 6 on 3-pointers.
“He is very consistent with his approach, work ethic and watching film,” Spoelstra said of Olynyk being ready.
3. Jones also back: With Butler out, Jones also was back in the starting lineup, after the Heat opened with Jae Crowder in his place in Thursday night’s loss in Atlanta.
“With Jimmy out tonight, we just felt that group had played together, comfortable,” Spoelstra said.
Crowder and Andre Iguodala both midway through the first period.
Because the Heat had been on the road since the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline, it was the first Heat home game for both, receiving warm ovations upon entering. they felt entered
4. Different level: While also languishing at the bottom of the East, the Cavaliers were nowhere near the test that the Atlanta Hawks provided Wednesday, especially with Cleveland holding out Kevin Love on the second night of the back-to-back.
While the Hawks ran their offense through Trae Young on his 50-point night, the Cavs often were working through … Cedi Osman.
Spoelstra said before Saturday’s game that he thought the loss in Atlanta, “wasn’t as bad as it seemed afterwards.”
Of why he had reached such a conclusion, he said, “I watched it in anger three times. I watched it rational once. And then we watched as a team together somewhere in between anger and rational and came away with that conclusion.”
5. Curtain call: When Haslem entered at the start of the fourth, it was his first appearance since Nov. 20, which coincidentally came during the Cavaliers’ previous visit.
He entered having made two previous appearances this season for the total of 11 minutes this season.
Spoelstra seemingly had little choice, with the crowd late in the third quarter breaking into a chant of “We want U.D.!”
Haslem played 10 minutes, missing all five of his shots in a scoreless performance that did produce five rebounds and an assist.
“Butter on my fingers,” Haslem said of his wayward night, embraced by Pat Riley as he left the locker room.