CLEVELAND, Ohio – I absolutely love how the Cavs played in Miami Saturday. In their 124-87 victory over the Heat, the Cavs showed the toughness they’ll need to go deep in the playoffs.
The Cavs opened the game without Darius Garland, who is out with a toe injury. Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson put Sam Merrill into the starting lineup for Garland, and the Cavs quickly fell behind, 12-4. Then Atkinson brought in Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter.
Ball game.
OK, a bit of an overstatement, but not by much.
What a forceful performance, the Cavs dominating on defense, the Heat not even able to score 90 points at home in a game they needed to win for any hope in this series. Instead, the Cavs are up 3-0 in this best-of-seven matchup.
The Cavs dominated the rebounding, 46-29. They outscored Miami 60-30 in the paint, because they focused on scoring inside. Jarrett Allen had 22 points on 8 for 9 shooting.
The Cavs dominated the ball movement, winning this game with Donovan Mitchell scoring only 13 points on 4 for 14 shooting. With no Garland, you would have thought a big game from Mitchell would be required. That wasn’t the case.
That’s because the Cavs were just dominating when it came to enforcing their will on the game.
“It was a collective effort, a collective focus on the road,” said Atkinson. “We executed the game plan. Won the rebounding. In the second half, they raised their level … maybe three levels. We were missing shots. But we met their level.”
The Cavs dominated inside as Evan Mobley demonstrates. AP
Koby Altman, take a bow
Atkinson did a masterful job using his players without Garland. He urged the Cavs to look inside, where Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley were nearly unstoppable.
At halftime, Allen had 16 points, making all seven of his shots. Hunter was 4 for 5 shooting, which he turned into 16 points thanks to 6 for 6 at the foul line.
The midseason deal for Hunter engineered by Cavs president Koby Altman really was a factor in this game. Just as Altman made a bargain basement signing of Jerome in the summer of 2023.
Jerome missed all of 2023-24 with a major ankle injury, but he has been the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year this season — even if he didn’t win the award.
Jerome had a game-high 11 assists. Jerome’s scoring captures most of the attention. But he’s also a gifted passer and just a smart, gritty player who can read game situations and adapt.
Hunter had an incredible day with 21 points on 6 for 8 shooting. The Cavs outscored Miami by 34 points with Hunter on the court.
“He did everything, showing why we traded for him,” said Atkinson. “He was incredible.”
With Garland out, Max Strus moved into the backcourt for most of the game. He is a superb passer to the big men, especially Allen. He had nine rebounds and five assists. Strus’ ballhandling is underrated. He also can help on the boards.
Strus played three seasons for Miami before Altman signed him as a free agent in the summer of 2023. He is one of the team’s most unselfish players.
“Max does all the dirty work,” said Atkinson.
Ty Jerome scored 13 points and had 11 assists.AP
Time to put them away
The Cavs have a chance to end the series Monday night in Miami.
Being up 3-0 will allow them to rest Garland for another game. It will permit Atkinson to keep going to his bench, not putting a tremendous burden on the starters.
For example, with Garland out, the obvious move would have been to start Jerome. But Atkinson went with Merrill because Jerome and Hunter have been so effective coming off the bench together. They outscored Miami 27-8 to end the quarter.
That was the ballgame.
Mobley won the Defensive Player of the Year Award. He had 19 points and six rebounds. Along with Allen, Mobley jumped out to defend Miami star Tyler Herro when the Cavs switched on defense.
“This is how we’ve been all year,” said Atkinson. “We’re deep and skilled.”
And it showed Saturday.
