Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) dribbles between Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) and center Jarrett Allen (31) in the first quarter of Game 2 of the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Rocket Arena. David Richard David Richard-Imagn Images
CLEVELAND
After a blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1, the Miami Heat made changes for Game 2. The Heat made a switch to its starting lineup, altered its bench rotation and put an emphasis on taking more threes-pointers.
Game 2 was closer but the result was the same, as the Eastern Conference’s eighth-seeded Heat followed up its 21-point Game 1 defeat with a 121-112 loss to the East’s top-seeded Cavaliers on Wednesday night at Rocket Arena.
The Heat now faces an 0-2 hole in the best-of-7 series, with the teams now heading to Miami for Games 3 and 4.
“It has been a couple of games where we’re right there and now we just have to figure out how to get it over the top,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It’s going to take more, it’s going to take collectively us digging deeper and we have respect for who they are, what they can do. But we have to be better.”
The Heat started fast, pulling ahead 16-7 six minutes into Wednesday’s contest.
But the Cavaliers responded by outscoring the Heat 61-35 over the rest of the first half to enter halftime with a big 68-51 lead behind scorching 14-of-23 (60.9 percent) shooting from three-point range in the first two quarters. The Cavaliers led by as many as 19 points in the first half.
Cleveland blew the game open in the second quarter, turning a one-point lead at the start of the period into a 17-point advantage at the end of the period. The Cavaliers did it by exploding for 43 points and hitting 11 threes in the second quarter to break the NBA record for the most made threes in a single quarter of a playoff game.
The Heat still kept pushing and the Cavaliers went cold in the third quarter, shooting 8 of 24 (33.3 percent) from the field and 4 of 15 (26.7 percent) on threes in the period. That allowed the Heat to whittle what was a 19-point deficit down to 13 at the end of the third quarter.
The Heat then began the fourth quarter on a 19-8 run to cut the Cavaliers’ lead to two with 4:26 to play. The Heat pulled within two points multiple times in the final minutes.
But after Tyler Herro made a midrange jumper to trim the deficit to two with 3:11 remaining in the fourth quarter, Donovan Mitchell hit a midrange jumper of his own and then nailed a 26-foot three to extend the Cavaliers’ lead back up to seven with 2:27 to play.
Haywood Highsmith then made a three to pull the Heat within four points with 2:11 remaining, but Donovan Mitchell again delivered in the clutch with a three-pointer to push the Cavaliers’ lead back up to seven with 1:52 left.
Herro cut the Heat’s deficit to five with a layup a few seconds later, but the Heat missed three straight shots and committed a turnover for four consecutive empty possessions in the final seconds.
That stretch proved to be fatal for the Heat, as the Cavaliers extended their lead to nine with 16.9 seconds to play and put the game away before Miami scored again following this rough late-game span.
“At the end of the day, it’s a two-point game and we had our opportunities there,” Spoelstra said. “We struggled to contain [Donovan] Mitchell, obviously, down the stretch. He made some tough shots.”
The Heat closed the game with a lineup of Herro, Davion Mitchell, Highsmith, Nikola Jovic and Bam Adebayo, with that lineup helping Miami get back into it. But this group could not complete the comeback.
Donovan Mitchell scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to help the Cavaliers hold off the Heat on his way to finishing with a team-high 30 points. He shot 10 of 21 from the field and 7 of 10 on threes.
The Cavaliers’ depth was on display, as they had five players finish Game 2 with double-digit points.
Darius Garland added 21 points and Evan Mobley scored 20 points for the Cavaliers.
The Heat now returns to Miami after a long nine-day trip that began with back-to-back play-in tournament wins in Chicago and Atlanta last week to qualify for the playoffs before losing two straight games in Cleveland. Game 3 of the first-round series is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. at Kaseya Center.
“We lost a game. I don’t think there’s any moral victories in this, honestly,” Herro said after Game 2. “But you can take some things, the positives from this and try to carry it over to game three. Again, we’ll watch film, put a game plan together, see what we can take from this game and carry over to the next.”
Five takeaways from the Heat’s Game 2 loss to the Cavaliers on Wednesday:
The Heat made a change to its starting lineup after its blowout loss in Game 1, but still ended up losing.
The Heat opened Game 2 with a lineup of Davion Mitchell, Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Adebayo and Kel’el Ware, inserting Davion Mitchell into the starting group and moving Alec Burks to the bench.
The group that began Game 2 actually started eight regular-season games for the Heat (going 2-6 in those games) after the mid-season acquisition of Wiggins and Davion Mitchell, but Wednesday marked their first start together since a March 12 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Davion Mitchell-Burks-Wiggins-Adebayo-Ware combination was not used in Sunday’s Game 1 defeat.
The change to the starting lineup led to a fast start on Wednesday, as the Heat began the game on a 16-10 run before making its first substitution of the night.
This starting group was a net-positive in Game 2, outscoring the Cavaliers by eight points in 14 minutes together.
Davion Mitchell was impressive in his first playoff start with the Heat, finishing Wednesday’s loss with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting on threes, six assists and one steal in 36 minutes. He scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to help spark Miami’s comeback attempt.
“It was a couple different factors with that,” Spoelstra said when asked about his decision to make a change to the Heat’s starting lineup. “We wanted to be able to organize ourselves offensively at the start a little bit better. Get Tyler off the ball, Wiggs off the ball. Then obviously some defensive presence. [Davion Mitchell’s] competitive spirit on the ball was very good all night and you’re dealing with two guards who can put a lot of pressure on you.”
But it was a tough night for Wiggins and Ware.
Wiggins closed the Game 2 loss with 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting on threes, one rebound, three assists and three blocks in 28 minutes. He did not play in the fourth quarter, as Spoelstra opted to use the lineup of Davion Mitchell, Herro, Highsmith, Jovic and Adebayo to close the game.
“I actually put him at the scorer’s table at six to go and the group wanted to keep on pushing through,” Spoelstra said when asked why Wiggins didn’t play in the fourth quarter. “We stayed with it. But, obviously, he’ll be very important the rest of the series.”
Ware was limited to seven points and four rebounds in 19 minutes on Wednesday. He also did not play in the fourth quarter.
With Davion Mitchell promoted from a reserve role to the starting lineup, the Heat’s bench rotation also looked different in Game 2.
The Heat used rookie guard Pelle Larsson off the bench for his first meaningful minutes since he sprained his right ankle during a weight-lifting session before the Heat’s April 9 loss to the Chicago Bulls. Larsson also played the final 1:23 of Sunday’s Game 1, but that came at the end of a lopsided loss.
Larsson, who was plugged into the bench rotation to help with the Heat’s perimeter defense against the Cavaliers’ talented group of guards, closed Game 2 with two points and two rebounds in 11 minutes off the bench.
The Heat also used Jovic off the bench for his first meaningful minutes in Game 2 since he broke his right hand on Feb. 23.
Jovic finished Game 2 with 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field and 1-of-8 shooting on threes, eight rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes off the bench.
“We just look different when he’s on the floor,” Spoelstra said of Jovic. “He creates some stress with his skill and I’m pleased that he was able to play those 25 minutes. It’s a credit to him putting in all that time conditioning the last month or so.”
Despite it being Jovic’s first game in two months, the Heat used him for the entire fourth quarter Wednesday. He recorded four points, five rebounds and one assist in the final period, but missed all four of his three-point attempts in the fourth quarter and committed two costly turnovers in the final 2:43 of the game.
Along with Larsson and Jovic, the Heat used Highsmith and Duncan Robinson off the bench in Game 2 to complete its nine-man rotation on Wednesday.
Burks started 10 of the final 11 regular-season games, both play-in tournament games and Game 1 of the first-round playoff series, but he did not play at all in Game 2 on Wednesday after being removed from the starting lineup.
Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kyle Anderson, Keshad Johnson and Burks did not play for the Heat in Game 2 despite being available.
The only Heat players out on Wednesday were Terry Rozier (sprained ankle) and Kevin Love (personal reasons). Two-way contract players are ineligible to take part in the playoffs.
In an effort to increase the Heat’s three-point volume to keep up with the Cavaliers’ elite three-point shooting, Adebayo took a lot of threes in Game 2. But it was still a rough night for Adebayo and the Heat.
Adebayo shot 1 of 5 from three-point range on Wednesday.
The Cavaliers were leaving Adebayo open from behind the arc, and he wasn’t shy to take advantage of the space early on. Adebayo put up four threes in Wednesday’s first quarter, matching his career-high for three-point attempts in any single quarter.
Adebayo’s aggressiveness from three-point range was a sign of the emphasis the Heat put on increasing its three-point volume in Game 2 after taking only 31 threes in Game 1 — 12 fewer three-point attempts than the Cavaliers.
The Heat was successful in doing that, shooting 45 threes in Game 2. The problem was the Heat only made 16 of them and the Cavaliers didn’t miss much from deep to finish 22 of 45 (48.9 percent) from behind the arc.
Despite Miami’s uptick in three-point volume, the Cavaliers still outscored the Heat 66-48 from three-point range after Cleveland hit 11 threes in Wednesday’s second quarter to break the NBA record for the most made threes in a single quarter of a playoff game.
“This is what this game presented and we have to be able to take open shots, create open shots,” Spoelstra said of the Heat taking more threes in Game 2. “If those shots end up being from behind the three-point line, take them.”
Adebayo finished the Game 2 loss with 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field. But he did contribute 14 rebounds, nine assists and one steal in 42 minutes.
Herro was better in Game 2.
After scoring 21 points on 18 field-goal attempts in Game 1, Herro finished Wednesday’s Game 2 loss with a game-high 33 points on 14-of-24 shooting from the field and 4-of-11 shooting on threes, six rebounds and five assists in 40 minutes.
The Heat also protected Herro better from getting picked on defensively, putting him on Cavaliers forward Max Strus for most of the game. With Davion Mitchell starting the game on Darius Garland and Wiggins starting the game on Donovan Mitchell, Herro didn’t need to spend most of the night defending one of the Cavaliers’ top two scorers.
But Garland made clear after Game 2 that the Cavaliers’ offensive game plan is to hunt the Herro matchup and attack him.
“Pick on Tyler Herro and take care of the ball,” Garland said following Game 2 of Cleveland’s strategy against Miami’s defense. “Don’t play in tight spaces and pick on their weak defenders, go at them.”
The Heat’s second and third best players weren’t as effective as Herro in terms of scoring.
Adebayo and Wiggins combined for just 21 points on 19 shots. The Heat needs more scoring from Adebayo and Wiggins to keep up with a Cavaliers team that posted the NBA’s top offensive rating this regular season.
Trailing 0-2, the Heat now faces a series deficit that not many NBA teams have overcome.
Entering this year’s playoffs, teams that drop the first two games of a best-of-7 series have gone on to lose the series 92 percent (28-323) of the time.
The Heat’s history also reflects the long odds it faces, as it has rallied to win a best-of-7 playoff series after losing the first two games just once in franchise history. That came in the 2006 NBA Finals, when the Heat came back from an 0-2 series deficit against the Dallas Mavericks by winning four straight games to claim its first NBA championship behind the greatness of Dwyane Wade.
The Heat has lost the other six best-of-7 playoff series that it fell behind 0-2 in.
Dropping Saturday’s Game 3 in Miami would likely mean the end of the Heat’s season is near, as no team in NBA history has ever rallied from a 3-0 hole to win a best-of-7 playoff series.
“Get home, get a great cooked meal and you go out and try to get you two at the crib,” Adebayo said of the Heat’s approach, as the series moves to Miami for Games 3 and 4.
As for the other series in the Heat’s half of the East bracket, the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers hold a 2-0 series lead over the fifth-seeded Milwaukee Bucks. The winner of the Heat-Cavaliers series will play the winner of the Bucks-Pacers series in the second round.
This story was originally published April 23, 2025 at 10:17 PM.
