(Mandatory Credit: David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)
Even though the Cleveland Cavaliers climbed back and erased a 21-point second-half deficit, the Miami Heat survived with a 120-103 road win over Cleveland inside Rocket Center Wednesday night.
The 17-point win snapped the Heat’s five-game losing streak — while also snapping the Cavaliers’ four-game win streak. Miami ended the final 6:59 on a 23-8 run, highlighted by the play from both Pelle Larsson and Kel’el Ware.
Larsson led the Heat in the fourth quarter with nine points with five boards — including multiple saves and loose balls secured in critical situations, qualities that won’t always pop up on the box score. Ware had seven fourth-quarter points — 13 for the game on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting — while Jaime Jaquez Jr. also had seven points in the period.
Predictably, Miami faltered in the third quarter on both ends of the floor, but they were able to buckle down after a red-hot start. It shot 51.9 percent from the floor and 18-of-45 (40.0 percent) from beyond the arc, the first time it has made 18 or more threes in a single game since March 6.
All but one Heat player scored at least 11 points in the winning effort — with none of them cracking 20. It was an egalitarian effort, led by Norman Powell’s 19 points and Tyler Herro’s 18. Powell shot 7-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-7 from 3-point range, while Herro knocked down four of his eight triple tries in 30 minutes.
Heat star Bam Adebayo struggled from the floor, but finished with a 17-point, 10-rebound, seven-assist double-double while anchoring the team’s zone.
Miami jumped from the No. 10 seed to No. 8 in lieu of its win, moving one game back of the Philadelphia 76ers for the No. 7 seed. Miami is also still two games back of Atlanta — who secured a huge overtime win in Detroit, albeit without Cade Cunningham — for the No. 6 seed in the East, which is becoming more unrealistic by the day.
We saw the Heat lean into what’s most important: Defense, which subsequently fueled their offense down the stretch. Every game is more important than the last at this point in an airtight East.
Miami looks to replicate its success Friday against Cleveland — the second of three-straight on the road, and two-straight against the Cavaliers inside Rocket Arena — on Friday at 7:30 p.m. EST.
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