Cavaliers lower Heat in game one 121-100 to take 1-0 series lead
BY TIM SHIRER
CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - Sunday night at Rocket Arena the second season began, the NBA playoffs that is. The Cleveland Cavaliers completed a 64-18 (34-7 home) regular season last Sunday earning the number one seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. The Miami Heat (37-45, 17-23 road) earned the eighth seed by winning two games in the play-in tournament on the road as they were the tenth seed in the East. The series is an NBA first as the Cavs and Heat have never met in the postseason. The Cavs entered the NBA in 1970 and the Heat in 1988. The teams met three times during the regular season with the Cavs taking two of three. The Cavs did what they were expected to do as they dispatched the Heat in game one 121-100 in front of another sellout crowd of 19,432.
Max Strus started the Cavs playoff run hitting a three with just 18 seconds off the first quarter clock to give the Cavs a 3-0 lead. With 9:31 left Donovan Mitchell rebounded a Heat missed shot and took it the length of the floor to give Cleveland a 9-2 lead and then at the went up 14-5 when Strus hit Jarrett Allen under the basket. Allen had four early points. Heat head coach Eric Spoelstra took an immediate timeout. The Heat went on an 8-0 run to cut the Cavs lead to 14-13 with 7:00 left in the first quarter when Tyler Herro drained a three from the top of the arc. With the Cavs leading 16-15 and 6:13 left on the first quarter clock Cavs head man Kenny Atkinson took a timeout. After the timeout with 5:36 left the Heat took their first lead of the game when former Cavs number one pick Andrew Wiggins hit a three-point basket to give the Heat an 18-16 lead. With 4:12 left after Darius Garland pulled down a rebound, he scored at the other end giving the Cavs a 20-18 lead. With 2:03 left after Mitchell stole the ball, he slammed it home at the other end giving the Cavs a 28-22 lead. As time ran out in the opening quarter the Cavalier led 31-24. Mitchell and Wiggins were leading scorers after one period with eight points apiece. The Cavs won the battle of the boards 11-7 in the first 12 minutes. The Cavs also out shot the Heat from the field 52% (12 of 23) to 47% (9 of 19). The Heat did outdo the Cavs from long range 57% (4 of 7) to 33% (3 of 9).
With 8:36 left in the second the Heat closed to within five points at 39-34 when Davion Mitchell drained a three. Strus quickly responded with a three at the other end, extending the Cavs lead to eight points. The Cavs lead back up to nine points at 45-36 with 7:44 left in the first half when Mitchell scored, was fouled and converted the free throw. With 6:50 left Garland hit Allen in the paint to give the Cavs a 47-36 lead. 38 seconds later Garland hit a three, giving the Cavs their largest lead to that point 50-36. The Heat took an immediate timeout. With 1:08 left in the quarter the Cavs lead was 62-50 after Haywood Highsmith scored in the paint. With :06.2 left on the second quarter clock Herro hit a three-point shot to cut the Cavs lead to 62-54 at the half. Herro led all scorers in the first half with 16 points. Mitchell paced the Cavs with 15 points. The Cavs continued to shoot well from the field, shooting 53% (24 of 45) in the first 24 minutes. The Heat shot 48% (20 of 42). The Heat did outshoot the Cavs from long range 50% (9 of 18) to 43% (9 of 21). The Cavs did win the battle of the boards in the first half 20-17.
With 9:17 left in the third quarter the Cavs lead was up to 11 at 70-59 when Garland hit a three. The Heat quickly responded with a three by Alec Burks to trim the Cavs lead to 70-62. With 7:47 left in the quarter and the Cavs up ten points Donovan Mitchell was called for a phantom foul and Bam Adebayo hit one of two free throws cutting the Cleveland lead to 72-63. After Donovan Mitchell stole the ball, he took in all the way to the hoop at the other end, giving the Cavs a 76-65 lead with 6:11 left in the third period. Miami took a timeout. With 3:22 left in the third quarter the Cavs lead was up 82-69 when Sam Merrill hit Mitchell in the paint. The points were Mitchell’s 21st and 22nd of the game. Just one minute and thirty seconds later the Heat cut the Cavs lead to 82-74 when Herro drained his third three of the game giving him 19 points. Then with :49.6 left the Heat cut the Cleveland lead to 85-79 when Highsmith hit a three. When the buzzer sounded in the third quarter the Cavs lead was where it was at halftime at eight points, 87-79. Donovan Mitchell led all scorers with 25, Garland had 21. Herro led the Heat with 19 through three. The Cavs were still outshooting the Heat 51% (34 of 67) to 48% (30 of 63) from the field. The Heat continued to outshoot the Cavs from long range 48% (12 of 25) to 39% (11 of 28). Cleveland was still winning the battle of the boards 33-28.
With 9:52 left Donovan Mitchell hit another three giving the Cavs a 92-81 lead. With 8;56 left the Heat cut the Cavs lead to 92-85 when Davion Mitchell hit a three. Then with 7:38 left Ty Jerome came through with a three and gave the Cavs a 98-88 lead. Then with 6:30 left in the regulation Merrill hit a deep three to give the Cavs a 102-90 lead. With 5:17 left Jerome scored in the paint and was fouled. He could not hit free throw and the Cavs led 106-92. He then scored in the paint again with 4:53 left to give the Cavs a 108-92 lead. After the Heat scored Jerome’s display continued as he hit a three with 4:28 left giving Cleveland a 111-94 lead. With 3:22 left the Cavs lead grew to 114-98 when Garland drained a three. Garland put the final nail in the Heat’s coffin with 2:08 left when he drained a three. With 1:23 left in the game Donovan Mitchell was fouled. He hit both free throws and which gave him 30 points in the game. With the 30 points Mitchell tied the NBA record with Michael Jordan with seven straight playoff game one’s with 30 points or more in NBA history. The Cavs finished the games off with a final score of 121-100.
Donovan Mitchell led all scorers with his record tying 30 points. Jerome had a playoff career high of 28 and Garland finished with 27 points. Allen had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the double double. The big man from Texas had 40 double doubles during the regular season. Herro led the Heat in scoring with 21 but scored just five points in the second half and two in the final quarter.
The Cavs outshot the Heat from the field in the game 51% (45 of 88) to 49% (39 of 80). Both teams shot 42% from the long distance as the Cavs were 18 of 43 and the Heat were 13 of 31. The Cavs outrebounded the Heat 42-37. Former Cavs legend Kevin Love missed the game due to personal reasons.
Game two will be on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. at Rocket Arena as the Cavs try to take a 2-0 series lead.
POSTED 04/20/2025 21:59
Lake County Sentinel
Cavaliers superstar Donovan Mitchell score one of his 30 record tying points in the Cavs game one win over the Miami Heat 121-100 at Rocket Arena Sunday night.
Photo by Tommy Shirer
