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Weary travelers
Heat blow 22-point lead in second half, fall to Cavs in OT as road woes continue
CLEVELAND — The entire point was to back up Saturday’s home victory over the Cavaliers with a Monday road statement in Cleveland.
For three quarters, the Miami Heat were on the way to just that, pushing to a 22-point lead at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. But this is the Heat.
And this is the road.
So never easy.
Instead, with a 32-5 fourthquarter blitz, the Cavaliers surged ahead for the first time in the game, eventually closing it out with a 125-119 overtime victory, dropping Erik Spoelstra’s team to 13-18 on the road.
Playing without Jimmy Butler for the second consecutive night due to personal reasons, the Heat got early 3-point sizzle from Duncan Robinson, some of the best of Bam Adebayo and late offense from Goran Dragic.
But all of that, and the 8-0 overtime record the Heat brought into the night, wasn’t enough.
Adebayo closed with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists, Dragic with 22 points, Kendrick Nunn with 21 and Robinson 15 on five 3-point conversions.
Dragic put the Heat up 118-117 in overtime with 1:45 left, but
Kevin Porter Jr. then scored off a rebound scramble for a 119-118 Cleveland lead.
After Andre Iguodala was off on a short jumper, Cleveland’s Darius Garland scored in the lane for a 121-118 Cleveland edge with 40.4 seconds left.
Heat forward Jae Crowder then was off on an open 3-point attempt that could have tied it, with a Kevin Love putback on the opposite end effectively ending it.
The Cavaliers tied it with 4:55 to play in regulation on a Porter 3-pointer and then took their first lead of the night, at 107-104 on another Porter 3-pointer.
From there, the Heat pushed back to tie it 111-111 on a Nunn putback of a Dragic miss with 6 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Regulation ended at that score when Porter was off on a short jumper.
Five degrees of Heat from Monday’s game:
1. Complete game: A storyline entering the night was the Cavaliers’ unique approach in going four deep in their power rotation with big men Andre Drummond, Kevin Love Tristan Thompson and Larry Nance Jr.
It was a storyline that had Spoelstra somewhat bristling, even with his team playing in the absence of sidelined center Meyers Leonard.
“Our game is not a non-physical game,” Spoelstra said.
But with Adebayo, is it a unique game, with the Heat center’s versatility practically willing the Heat to victory, before the lack of support provide too much
to overcome, Nance dominant in overtime.
2. The 200 club: With his second 3-pointer as part of his 5 for 5 first half beyond the arc, Robinson reached 200 for the season, joining James Harden, Damian Lillard and Buddy Hield as players to eclipse 200.
Robinson joined Wayne Ellington (227 in 2017-18), Damon Jones (225, 2004-05) and Tim Hardaway (203, 1996-97) as the only Heat players with 200 or more in a season in the Heat’s 32 years.
Robinson has now converted a 3-pointer in 42 consecutive appearances, seven games from the franchise record set by Rafer Alston over dual tenures with the Heat.
“He’s continuing to develop his catch-and-shoot game and fearlessness,” Spoelstra said.
Of course, after making those first five 3-pointers, Robinson missed his final five of regulation, as well as his lone attempt in overtime.
3. All but one: Crowder had a six-point possession in nine seconds midway through the second quarter that could have been a seven-point possession.
First Crowder hit 3-pointer and then was fouled by Collin Sexton, with review upgrading the foul to a flagrant.
That put the Crowder at the line with two free throws to make one (the maximum that can be scored on a single play is four points).
Crowder missed both foul shots, but the Heat then retained possession, with Crowder draining another 3-pointer.
It was part of a 10-point, six-rebound first half for Crowder.
4. Silva streak: With Kelly Olynyk called for two early fouls, Spoelstra turned to Chris Silva for a second consecutive game.
In 8:42 of action in the first half, the undrafted rookie out of South Carolina contributed four points, four rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot. That allowed Olynyk and Adebayo to escape the first half with just two fouls apiece.
5. Passing fancy: The Heat reached 30 assists for the 13th time this season, extending the franchisesingle season record, with 25 games remaining. It came after recording 34 on Saturday night against the Cavaliers.
The previous franchise record was 11 such games way back in 1989-90, the franchise’s second season.
Of course, as with all things Heat this season, it’s all about the defense, which wasn’t nearly good enough in Monday night’s late stages.