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Wrap-Up -- There’s no place in the NBA that bedevils the Wine & Gold like American Airlines Arena – where the Heat had taken 14 straight against Cleveland, a skein that extended over seven seasons.
That domination continued on Friday night – with Miami cooling off the Cavaliers after intermission and handing Larry Drew’s shorthanded squad the 118-94 loss, their fifth straight overall.
The Cavs got off to a solid start and were within four at the break. But the Heat held Cleveland to 6-for-26 shooting in the third period, extended their double-digit lead in the fourth and cruised to the finish line.
The Cavaliers – who haven’t beat the Heat in South Beach since late January 2010 – were once again without starters Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Rodney Hood. Ante Zizic also missed Friday’s affair with a sore right knee, leaving Larry Drew with nine healthy bodies.
With Thompson and Zizic out, Channing Frye got the start at center and scored eight of Cleveland’s first 13 points as both squads went toe-to-toe through most of the first half.
But the Wine & Gold simply couldn’t make a shot when it counted in that fateful third quarter – scoring just 17 points on 23 percent shooting as Miami took a double-digit lead over the final four-and-a-half minutes and didn’t look back the rest of the way.
For the 16th time this season, Jordan Clarkson led the Wine & Gold in scoring – finishing with 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting, including 3-of-7 from long-range, to go with five boards and four assists in 31 minutes off the bench.
Alec Burks got off to an excellent start – hitting his first six shots – and finished with 17 points in the loss, going 6-of-10 from the floor, adding six boards and five assists.
Cedi Osman was the only other Cavaliers starter in double-figures, chipping in with 12 points and five boards on 5-of-13 shooting.
Larry Nance Jr. played his usual solid floor game – coming off the bench to tally 11 points, seven boards, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Jaron Blossomgame led the Wine & Gold with 10 boards to go with seven points.
Justise Winslow, in his new role as Miami’s point guard, led everyone with 24 points, 11 boards and seven assists in the victory.
As a team, the Heat dominated Cleveland in the paint – outscoring the Cavs, 60-28 – and kept them completely in-check on the break, outscoring them, 15-0, on the night.
Balanced scoring not enough for the Cavs in Miami.
Turning Point -- The first half of Friday’s contest was nip-and-tuck through the first 24 minutes – featuring five ties and 13 lead-changes.
But things started slipping away from Cleveland after intermission.
The Cavaliers cut Miami’s lead back to four on Alec Burks’ acrobatic reverse layup less than two minutes into the second half. But the Heat answered with a quick 8-0 run to improve their edge to double-digits.
Cedi Osman’s runner got Cleveland back to within five midway through the quarter, but Miami answered with another 8-0 run – putting the Wine & Gold down a baker’s dozen late in the period and giving the Heat all the room they’d need to prolong the Cavs’ Sunshine State skein.
By the Numbers – .863 … Cavaliers’ free throw percentage (19-of-22) on Friday night in Miami. At .782, the Wine & Gold have the 4th-best mark in the Eastern Conference and have three players – Rodney Hood (.889), Collin Sexton (.882) and Jordan Clarkson (.851) – among the league’s top 30.
Quotable – Matthew Dellavedova, on Friday night’s tough loss in Miami …
”There’s no excuses. This is the NBA – you have to go out there and perform. I thought we did a good job of that in the first half, but we have to do it for four quarters because on the road against a team like this, two quarters isn’t enough. I felt we showed some good signs, but we have to be more consistent.”
Up Next -- The Wine & Gold close out their three-game roadie – and the 2018 portion of their schedule – on Saturday night, taking on the Hawks at the new-and-improved State Farm Arena. The Cavs tip off the new year with a rematch with the Heat next Wednesday at The Q, followed by a weekend back-to-back – with Utah rolling into town on Friday night, with Anthony Davis and the Pelicans coming in the following evening. Cleveland caps the four-game homestand with a meeting against Indiana before hitting the road for the longest trip of the season – a six-game, 11-day junket out West.