Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points and Ty Jerome scored 16 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter as the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers pulled away for a 121-100 victory over the visiting Miami Heat in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Sunday.
Jerome, a backup point guard, was making his playoff debut in his sixth season. He also dished three assists in the final period after being named a finalist for the Sixth Man of the Year award earlier in the day. He made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts, including 5 of 8 on 3-pointers.
Mitchell, a six-time All-Star, posted his seventh straight 30-point performance in a series opener, tying Michael Jordan for the NBA record. Jordan accomplished it twice in his legendary playoff career with the Chicago Bulls.
“That’s Donovan. That’s Spida Mitchell. He’s the head of this snake and we go as he goes,” said the Cavaliers’ Darius Garland, who added 27 points.
Jarrett Allen had 12 points, 11 rebounds and three steals for Cleveland, which outscored the Heat 34-21 in the fourth. Its largest lead was the final score, courtesy of Mitchell’s two free throws with 1:23 remaining.
“When we see guys come off the bench like that, we definitely feed off the energy,” Garland said, referring to Jerome. “It gets us fired up. That’s for everybody on this team. We love each other.”
Bam Adebayo had 24 points and nine rebounds, and Tyler Herro scored 21 points for the Heat, who were playing their third game in five days. Miami needed play-in tournament wins at Chicago on Wednesday and Atlanta on Friday to become the first 10th seed to qualify.
The Heat were within 95-88 early in the fourth before Jerome buried a 3-pointer, sparking “Ty-Jer-ome” chants from the home crowd. He scored seven straight Cleveland points later in the quarter to make it 111-94 with 4:29 to play before Garland delivered the dagger with two treys.
Davion Mitchell had 18 points and nine assists off the Miami bench, and Andrew Wiggins scored 14 points. Aside from Jerome’s big night, Cleveland’s reserves had only six points, all by Sam Merrill.
“When (Donovan Mitchell or Garland) go out, Ty Jerome comes in and there is no drop-off,” Davion Mitchell said. “We’ve got to take care of that the next game.”
The Cavaliers won two of the teams’ three regular-season games, their only loss coming in Miami. This is the first time they have met in the playoffs.
“They were a lot more physical than us, and that obviously set the tone,” Herro said. “We’ve got to clean that up.”
–Field Level Media
