Record moment for Robinson in blowout

One lesson from Saturday night was that even bad, shorthanded teams have good players. Another was that there is no time left for slip-ups for the Miami Heat.

So even with Kevin Love and Collin Sexton having big nights, and even with the Cleveland Cavaliers moving to an early 11-point lead, the Heat restored order by halftime on the way to a 124-107 victory at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

With the victory, the Heat matched the 34-30 record of the Boston Celtics, who stand No. 6 in the Eastern Conference, as they moved on to Sunday night’s game against the No. 8 Charlotte Hornets. It ties the most games above .500 the Heat have stood this season.

With Kendrick Nunn scoring 22, Duncan Robinson 20, Trevor Ariza 18 and Max Strus 17, the Heat did not need to push their leading men, with Jimmy Butler closing with 15 points and Bam Adebayo with 13.

“Anytime when you can do it by committee like that, it eases the burden off those two guys who do a lot of the heavy lifting on a night-to-night basis,” Robinson said.

Adebayo said he and Butler were appreciative.

“Today, everybody was making shots and getting deflections,” he said, “and me and Jimmy didn’t have to score a whole lot.”

Love and Sexton each scored 25 for the injury-ravaged Cavaliers, with the 25 a season high for Love.

Five Degrees of Heat from Saturday’s game:

1. Milestone moment: When Robinson improved to 4 of 4 on 3-pointers with his conversion with 8:24 left in the third period to put the Heat up 13, it was the 500th of his career, in his 152nd regular-season game.

That gave him the record for fastest player to 500, eclipsing the mark of Luka Doncic, who did it in his first 187 games. The only other player to do it in fewer than 200 games was Damian Lillard, in 199.

“That is a staggering statistic, if you think about it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It really is a credit to how much work he’s put into his craft, to develop his shooting ability, on the move, under duress, and evolve.”

Robinson also converted his fifth consecutive 3-pointer, before his first miss, eventually closing 6 of 9 from behind the arc.

“Obviously, I’m grateful,” Robinson said of his fastest 500. “Certainly, I didn’t expect to have these sorts of accolades and records.” 2. Nunn sense: Nunn continued his late-season emergence, making his first three 3-pointers, and kept going from there.

“Just happy to be out there, having those minutes,” said Nunn, who played a teamhigh 36:17. “And I play good with the guys I’m out there with. Our chemistry is good.”

It was the fourth time in five appearances that Nunn has scored at least 18.

“We don’t take him for granted,” Spoelstra said. “He’s been very diligent about improving his offense reads and improving as a team defender, as well.”

3. Gradual aggression: Butler was 0 for 4 from the field with five points in the first.

He then shot 4 of 6 for 10 points in the third period, when the Heat went up 18 and then took a 13-point lead into the fourth quarter.

That single burst proved all that was needed, with Butler able to sit out the fourth quarter and rest up for Sunday’s game.

“He’s one of those guys, he has that special talent to manipulate games, get yourself going with five points in first two quarters and then erupts for 10 in the third,” Adebayo said.

4. Adebayo, too: Like Butler, Adebayo was limited with his early contribution, with four first-half points on 2-of-5 shooting.

He then came around to complete his double-double, with 10 rebounds, and extend his career-best streak to 49 consecutive games scoring in double figures.

With his ninth point, Adebayo passed Brian Grant for 17th place on the Heat’s all-time scoring list.

“Me and Jimmy are two who create a lot of things,” Adebayo said, “but when guys are getting it going, we’re OK with it.”

5. Early action: With Tyler Herro (foot) and Victor Oladipo (knee) not making the trip, Strus got early minutes, as the Heat’s second guard off the bench, after Goran Dragic.

Strus made his first two shots upon entering, and five of his first seven, fueling an 11-0 second-quarter run and playing ahead of Gabe Vincent. Strus secured his seventh double-figure scoring game by the midpoint of the second period, with 14 points in 14 first-half minutes.