The Cleveland Cavaliers took a commanding 2-0 lead over the Miami Heat in their first-round series after winning Game 2 121-112 at Rocket Arena on Wednesday night.
Game 3 is on Saturday afternoon in Miami.
Cleveland, who led by as many as 19 points, was in complete control for most of the game. It appeared that the Cavs, who routed the Heat 121-100 in Game 1 on Sunday, were on their way to doing the same in Game 2.
However, in the fourth, the Heat, who trailed 93-80 after three quarters, started to come on. Miami went on a 13-2 run and, after a Tyler Herro layup, trailed 101-99 with 4:26 left to go, but the Cavs’ best player, Donovan Mitchell, would score 11 of the team’s next 13 points, and Cleveland would not look back.
Mitchell scored 17 of his team-high 30 points in the fourth, to go along with six rebounds and six assists. Mitchell was 6/9 from the field in the final stanza, including 4/4 from deep. He finished the game with seven threes. The All-Star guard became the first player in team history with a stat line of 30 points, six rebounds, six assists, and seven threes.
Darius Garland added 21 points and nine assists, and Evan Mobley had 20 points. Cleveland had five players in double figures.
Tyler Herro had a game-high 33 points; Davion Mitchell chipped in with 18 points and six assists, and Bam Adebayo added 11 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists. The Heat finished the game with six players in double figures.
Bottom Line:
The Cavs are in control of this series and are clearly the better team. The goal for this team now is to handle business in Miami. You don’t want to play extra games because extra games lead to injuries, so Cleveland, who had the best road record(30-11) in the East during the regular season, needs to continue to play at a high level on the road in the postseason.
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