the Heat outlasted an opponent that tossed them aside like playoff fodder seven months ago<\/a>, in the most lopsided playoff series in NBA history.<\/p>\n\u201cIt was a classic game,\u201d Spoelstra said. \u201cGreat game to be a part of. It\u2019s better when you get the win.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ending could not have been more dramatic, with Andrew Wiggins converting a dunk at the rim off a sideline inbounds pass from Nikola Jovic on a play that began with fourth-tenths of a second left.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, I\u2019ve had that play listed on my card for four years,\u201d Spoelstra said of the set designed and diagrammed in final huddle by assistant coach Chris Quinn.<\/p>\n
It was a victory decided only when review confirmed Wiggins dunk beat the buzzer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was really open,\u201d said Jovic.<\/p>\n
\u201cA perfect pass,\u201d Wiggins said, \u201cand I was there to finish the job.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the Heat, it was another night of showing the depth of the roster, competitive with Bam Adebayo missing a third consecutive game with a toe sprain, and with Tyler Herro yet to suit up this season following September ankle surgery.<\/p>\n
Norman Powell paced the Heat with 33 points, with the Heat also getting 23 from Wiggins, 22 from Jaime Jaquez Jr., as well as 14 points and 20 rebounds from center Kel\u2019el Ware.<\/p>\n
Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 28 points, his 3-pointer with fourth-tenths of a second to play setting up the final dramatics.<\/p>\n
The teams meet again Wednesday night at Kaseya Center, with the Heat now 5-0 at home this season.<\/p>\n
Five Degrees of Heat from Monday night\u2019s game:<\/p>\n
1. Closing time: A pair of Jaquez free throws staked the Heat to an early lead in overtime, with a Ware putback putting the Heat up 132-129.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s when Evan Mobley responded inside to make it 132-131, failing to complete the 3-point play, on what initially was ruled a Ware goaltend on the missed free throw, overruled upon replay.<\/p>\n
After the teams traded baskets, leaving the Heat up one, Jaquez scored in the lane for a 136-133 Heat lead.<\/p>\n
Cleveland then appeared to tie it on a Mobley 3-pointer, only to have it waved off because Cleveland called timeout.<\/p>\n
The Heat then fouled, with De\u2019Andre Hunter making both free throws to bring Cleveland within 136-135.<\/p>\n
A Cavaliers foul before the inbound pass followed, with Powell missing the free throw, after an 11-of-11 start from the line.<\/p>\n
Powell was sent immediately back to the line, this time making both with 6.5 seconds left for a 138-135 Heat lead.<\/p>\n
And then seeming heartbreak, with Mitchell draining a 3-pointer with four-tenths of a second to play in overtime for a 138-138 tie.<\/p>\n
Until \u2014 Jovic to Wiggins. Game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was chilling in the corner,\u201d Jaquez said. \u201cit was beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. Game flow: The Cavaliers led 30-25 after the first quarter before the Heat pushed back to a 62-53 halftime lead.<\/p>\n
The Heat then went ahead 15 in the third period, before Cleveland came around with its 3-point shooting to close within 101-92 going into the fourth.<\/p>\n
Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson was ejected with 32.6 seconds left in the third period, when he was called for his second technical foul.<\/p>\n
Cleveland\u2019s Sam Merrill then opened the fourth quarter with four consecutive 3-pointers to tie it 106-106.<\/p>\n
From there, the teams swapped leads, before Jaquez drained a running floater with 7.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter to close the scoring in regulation.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many guys had their fingerprints on this game,\u201d Spoelstra said.<\/p>\n
3. Powell play: Powell continued his breakout start to the season, this time up to 18 points by half.<\/p>\n
The Heat stood 9 of 11 from the line at halftime, with 7 of 7 of that from Powell.<\/p>\n
Powell then entered early in the fourth quarter after the Cavaliers had gone ahead, helping settle the Heat with a pair of driving baskets.<\/p>\n
Powell closed 13 of 14 from the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cl love the versatility of his offensive talent,\u201d Spoelstra said.<\/p>\n
4. Standing tall: Badly outplayed in last season\u2019s playoff series by Cleveland Jarrett Allen, it appeared that would be the story again for Ware, with Allen seizing control of the matchup at the outset.<\/p>\n
However, Ware came around to seize control on the boards, with his stints after that initial run far more effective.<\/p>\n
After three consecutive games of being blasted on the boards, Spoelstra addressed rebounding in his pregame comments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to check that box. We need to do a job better on the glass,\u201d Spoelstra said. We\u2019re fully capable of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a very good rebounding team, but when we\u2019ve gotten outrebounded this year, even going back to last year, we get outrebounded in a big way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cleveland closed with a 61-55 rebounding advantage.<\/p>\n
But Ware stood tall.<\/p>\n
\u201cKel\u2019el played his best game, impactful plays at key moments,\u201d Spoelstra said, \u201chis best game in a Miami Heat uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n
5. Jaquez, again: Jaquez again played as energizer, this time up to seven points, seven rebounds and five assists at halftime.<\/p>\n
The approach again was of constant attack, not settling from the perimeter, while also working his way to the foul line.<\/p>\n
As has become typical, Jaquez was on the court to start the fourth quarter \u2014 and the end, including a crucial driving 3-point play late in the fourth.<\/p>\n
He closed with 13 rebounds and seven assists.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s so poised now with an aggressiveness,\u201d Spoelstra said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 The last two times these teams met, the fourth quarters might just as well have been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[114,123,125,2490,124,2295,110],"class_list":{"0":"post-42305","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-latest-headlines","9":"tag-miami","10":"tag-miami-headlines","11":"tag-miami-heat","12":"tag-miami-news","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}