The Cleveland Cavaliers completed a series sweep of the Miami Heat on Monday night, securing their place in the second round of the NBA playoffs. The 4-0 series result may not be surprising to many observers — but the nature of the Cavaliers’ first-round victory has captured attention.<\/p>\n
That is because the Heat-Cavaliers series was the most lopsided in NBA playoff history. After the Cavs romped to a 138-83 victory on the road in Game 4, Cleveland set a new record with a plus-122 point differential against Miami — the largest margin of victory in any four-game span in playoff history.<\/p>\n
Led by Donovan Mitchell’s 22 points, the Cavaliers’ 55-point win on Monday became the largest margin of victory in a series-clinching game<\/a> in the playoffs’ history. It punctuated Cleveland’s complete and total control of the series; after the Cavs fell behind 15-6 midway through the first quarter of Game 1, Cleveland outscored Miami by 101 points<\/a> over the ensuing 90 minutes of game time.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The Cavaliers led the NBA in points per game and in offensive rating during the regular season, and the full force of the Cleveland offense was on display against Miami. The Cavs set a new high water mark with a 136.2 offensive rating against the Heat, the most efficient offensive performance on record since the stat was first tracked in 1997.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve done our work early all year, came out of the gate and played really well and then getting this first seed, that’s how you do it,” head coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters<\/a> on Monday night. “If you’re going to script it, this is how you do it.\u201d<\/p>\n With a richly-talented core of Mitchell, Darius Garland and Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley, the Cavaliers are in hot pursuit of their second championship in franchise history after notching 64 wins in the regular season. Cleveland will enter its second-round series against either the Indiana Pacers or the Milwaukee Bucks with a lot of confidence after such an overpowering first-round display.<\/p>\n