Playing without Darius Garland did not slow down the Eastern Conference’s No. 1-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, as they combined balanced offense and stifling defense to overpower the host Miami Heat in Saturday’s Game 3 matchup, 124-87, to take a 3-0 lead in the series.
Shortly before Cleveland tipped off, Garland was announced as a scratch from the lineup due to a toe injury aggravated late in the Game 2 win on Wednesday. The Cavaliers also endured offensive struggles from star Donovan Mitchell, who followed up his two 30-point games to open the series by shooting just 4-of-14 from the floor en route to 13 points.
But with others stepping up, including De’Andre Hunter coming off the bench to score 16 of his 21 points in the first half, Cleveland moved within one win of advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“Phenomenal on both ends of the ball and on the glass,” Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome said of Hunter, who was a University of Virginia teammate before the two began playing together in Cleveland. “That’s who he is. That’s why we got him. I’ve seen that for the last 10 years.”
The Cavaliers withstood an initial charge from the Heat. Miami jumped out to a quick 15-6 lead less than six minutes into the first quarter, but Cleveland responded with an 18-0 onslaught that gave the Cavaliers the lead for good.
The Heat opened the second half with a brief threat, cutting a 20-point lead at intermission to 15 when Davion Mitchell followed up a layup with an assist to set up Kel’el Ware 3-pointer. Any hope of a Miami comeback was quickly squashed, however.
Cleveland answered with a 13-5 run and rolled from there.
Jarrett Allen led the Cavaliers with 22 points and 10 rebounds. He was tops among six Cleveland scorers in double figures, along with frontcourt mate Evan Mobley, who netted 19 points.
Mobley, named Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday, also added a blocked shot and a steal.
Max Strus shot 4-of-9 from 3-point range on the way to 18 points, and Ty Jerome posted a double-double off the bench, logging some of Garland’s missing point-guard minutes, at 13 points and 11 assists.
Bam Adebayo matched Allen’s 22 points and had nine rebounds, while Davion Mitchell added 16 points.
No other Miami scorer posted more than Tyler Herro’s 13 points, though, and Andrew Wiggins saw his series struggles continue, as he finished with 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting.
“He’s really important,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Wiggins. “He has to be assertive, has to be aggressive. I have to do a better job of getting the spots where he can really produce for us.”
–Field Level Media
