Especially with Jimmy Butler (28 points on 14 shots) drawing fouls at the same rate as Giannis Antetokounmpo.ģ. The HEAT scored well enough in the paint – 25 makes, 14-of-17 at the rim – for a win on any other evening, so if they can keep the rest of their performance consistent while eliminating one of the two problems areas, turnovers or shooting, they should be in just fine shape for Friday’s rematch. Only 18 points on 18 shots for Donovan Mitchell, with Darius Garland getting to 25 on 16 shots thanks to some particularly tough finishes in the paint. There were quite a few crossmatches all night, but the HEAT did well to avoid switching weaker defenders onto the best of the Cavaliers, committing two to the ball if they had to just to slow things down. But the defense gave them that chance, limiting the Cavaliers to 17 points in the fourth. Miami had the shots that didn’t fall, and the turnovers cost them throughout, especially whenever they were putting together a run. And yet the HEAT had a chance, a very good chance, of pulling off the improbable. So when you do both of those things on the same night, your chances of winning would logically plummet. Nor are you going to win many games making just eight threes. You aren’t going to win many games when you commit 24 turnovers. With Jimmy Butler getting himself to the line, the HEAT were able to mitigate the damage of Adebayo’s third foul with 7:25 in the second, going from down one to down just four over that stretch without their star center.Ģ. But with the zone giving Cleveland a few fits of stagnancy – at least in the opening period – everything was pretty even on balance. Some of those were simple mistakes, trying to make plays when the play wasn’t there to be made, but Cleveland’s length and rotations can induce some simple mistakes when you’re trying to pass you’re way into better looks. It wasn’t all good, with Miami’s 13 turnovers standing as their second-most in any half this season. Bam Adebayo picked up his first foul less than a minute into the game – only the eighth time in his entire career that that’s happened – and picked up a couple more along the way to limit himself to nine first-half minutes, but the HEAT were otherwise just fine at the outset. Weird start, followed by a very normal half which in itself was a little weird.
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