Recap: Miami 126, Cleveland 110 (or, Flash & Flushes)

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The Cavs lost their 16th straight game in the American Airlines arena, and more significantly, saw another major rotation player leave the game with injury when Larry Nance exited in the early third quarter, courtesy of everyone’s favorite pony-tailed loser, Kelly Olynyk. Olynyk barrelled into the midsection of a “rule of verticality” prone Larry Nance and picked up a very cheap foul. Miami was faking and flailing all night, and it sent Junior to the trainer’s room.

The Cavs kept pace with Miami till late in the third, when a Jordan Clarkson triple cut Miami’s lead to four. That’s as close as the Cavs would come , as Miami slowly stretched it out to a double digit lead in the fourth, and never looked back, going up by as much as 22 before garbage time buckets from Sexton, Clarkson, and Zizic.

Cleveland had a much better answer for the zone in this one as they consistently found a low post outlet by cutting from the corner getting looks at the rim or forcing the zone to collapse and kicking, but what Cleveland couldn’t handle was the trap of the pick and roll whenever Sexton had the ball. His seven turnovers to six assists were indicative of his inability to see or unwillingness to make an easy swing pass out of an impending trap, and then cutting. Instead, he coughed it up time and again, fueling Miami’s run.

Still, Sexton looked sharp shooting and driving, going for 27 on 17 shots including 3-5 from downtown. Sexton scored a lot of push shots and hooks, but he did a good job of getting into the paint and scoring over Miami’s shot blockers, and notched the play of the game when he outraced Bam Adebayo to dunk on him in transition (see below). His release from three is getting lightning quick, and in this game he surpassed Kyrie’s record for three pointers by a Cavalier rookie. Who saw that coming?. Cedi Osman was the converse of Sexton, as he went 1-9 and struggled with his shot, but added six dimes with three turnovers in his 36 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oweg9begEkA

Fortunately, the Cavs had Captain Bandaid, Jordan Clarkson, who went an insane 6-10 from downtown for 21 and an impressive showing from Brandon Knight who added 15 and six dimes, and it’s easy to see where the scoring came from: the guards and the three point line. The Cavs shot a Houston-esque number of triples: 43, and everyone not named Cedi Osman (1-6) combined to go 18-37 from deep.

The ball moved well, and the Cavs totalled 28 assists. They seemed to have figured out the zone that gave them so many problems earlier this year, which is why Miami just switched to man and trapped. Kevin Love had another solid outing offensively with 19 points but was part of why the Cavs were killed on the boards: 51-37. It got especially bad when Nance exited.

Ante did return from the NBA concussion protocol for six and six in 14 minutes, but Delly entered the protocol after the Nets game. The basketball gods giveth, and they taketh away.

Defensively, the Cavs stunk too, as they allowed Miami to go for 57% from the field, and shoot 33 free throws. Any time you combine those numbers with 14 offensive rebounds, you’re probably going to lose. Cleveland was the victim of many a ridiculous whistle, but they also chose to embrace their lack of calls by shooting outside instead of attacking the rim, while the Heat ran a dunk drill.

Miami just looked, taller, stronger, and more athletic, and had eight guys in double figures led by Josh Richardson with 20 and Bam Adebayo with 17, mostly of the dunk variety. Derrick Jones Jr. gave them nice energy off the bench with two big blocks and Whiteside collected a double double in just 23 minutes. The Dwyane Wade retirement tour continued as Wade scored 12 with five dimes in just under 20 minutes. After the game, it didn’t appear jerseys were exchanged. Personally, I’m relieved that the Cavs don’t have to gladhand him anymore since he did almost as much to destroy team chemistry last year as Isaiah Thomas and called out Kevin Love for having a panic attack.

Anyway, Miami has won five straight and is edging out Orlando and Charlotte for the eighth seed in the East. Cleveland returns to the Q Monday to take on the Raptors. Greeting them will be Koby Altman who was in Indiana last night, watching Ja Morant go for 28/6/8 and a game winner. The more of that kid I see the more electric he looks. Maybe we’ll see him running point next year.