Heat fight to finish behind Herro’s 33 but fall to 0-2 series deficit with 121-112 loss in Cleveland

CLEVELAND – For weeks, as their play-in fate became as much of a reality as that of the Cavaliers being the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, all the Miami Heat wanted was an opportunity to get to Cleveland.

Now the question is whether they can get back.

Far more competitive than in Sunday night’s opener of this best-of-seven Eastern Conference opening-round series, the Heat this time fought to the finish in a 121-112 loss Wednesday night to the Cavaliers at Rocket Arena.

Still, the Heat only make it back to the shores of Lake Erie for a Game 5 next Wednesday if they win one of the next two games at Kaseya Center.

“Now we just have to figure out how to get it over the top,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It’s going to take more. It’s going to take us collectively digging deeper.”

With the Cavaliers setting an NBA record with 11 3-pointers in the second period and the Heat initially unable to get any offensive consistency beyond what would turn into the 33 points of Tyler Herro, it seemed like more of the same for  Spoelstra’s team as in Sunday night’s 121-100 series-opening loss.

But then the fight returned, just as it did during the play-in round.

This time, though, too little, too late.

The Heat also got 18 points from Davion Mitchell and 17 from Haywood Highsmith, but not nearly the needed offense from Bam Adebayo, who finished with 11 points, albeit also with 14 rebounds and nine assists.

For the Cavaliers, whose offense again was aided by Heat turnovers, there was ample scoring diversity, led by the 30 points of Donovan Mitchell.

Game 3 is 1 p.m. Saturday at Kaseya Center, with Game 4 on Monday night at Kaseya Center, at either 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m., depending on if Grizzlies-Thunder is a sweep.

“We’ll get to work,” Spoelstra said. “We have a couple of days and we’ve just got to figure it out.”

Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday  night’s game:

1. Game flow: The Heat raced to an early nine-point lead before the Cavaliers surged back to a 25-24 lead at the end of the opening period. From there, the Cavaliers converted a volley of 3-pointers to move to a 19-point second-period lead before going into halftime up 68-51.

The Cavaliers’ 43 points in the second quarter were their high for any quarter in a playoff game since scoring 49 against the Golden State Warriors in the first quarter on June 9, 2017 in the NBA Finals, when LeBron James still was with the team.

The Cavaliers’ 11 second-quarter 3-pointers were an NBA record for 3-pointers in a playoff period.

“There were four of those that we defended really well and we closed out and we contested, and they made those,” Spoelstra said of those 11 3-pointers. “I think those last four, we were discouraged.

“This team, they can make shots.”

But from there, including down 19 late in the third, the Heat then closed within 93-80 going into the fourth.

2. Closing time:  A Highsmith 3-pointer then drew the Heat within 99-91 with 7:29 to play, similar to the Heat’s feistiness early in Sunday’s fourth quarter, with a Mitchell 3-pointer drawing the Heat within 101-97 with 5:47 left.

“We had more consecutive stops,” Spoelstra said, “and for us that creates momentum.”

Later, a Herro transition layup drew the Heat within 101-99 with 4:25 to play. The Heat then also got within two with 3:11 to play on a Herro jumper.

“It doesn’t ever matter how you get there,” Spoelstra said. “At the end of the day it’s a to-point game and we had our opportunities.”

But a Donovan Mitchell 3-pointer later put Cleveland up 110-103 with 1:52 to play, providing too much of a late hurdle.

“Just getting stops down the stretch that was the deciding factor,” Adebayo said of the Heat’s comeback. “That was what brought us getting close to almost getting this win.”

Andrew Wiggins, who endured a miserable 10-points, one-rebound game, did not play in the fourth quarter.

“I thought about it, actually put him at the scorers’ table to with six to go,” Spoelstra said, “and everybody in the group wanted to push on through.”

3. Doing his part: Herro was up to a game-high 15 points at halftime, a stage when no other Heat starter had more than five.

Herro then moved to 22 points with 8;04 left in the third period, when he converted his fourth 3-pointer, at a stage no teammate had more than nine points.

He stood with 27 points through three periods, with no other starter with more than Wiggins’ 10 at that stage.

“Tyler was really good,” Spoelstra said.

But Herro said still more is needed.

“We lost the game,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any moral victories. But you can take some positives from this and try to carry it over to Game 3.”

4. New look: After downplaying potential major adjustments during his pregame media session, Spoelstra did just that with his lineup.

After starting Alec Burks in both play-in wins last week and Sunday’s opener of this series, Spoelstra this time turned to Mitchell in a starting lineup that also included Herro, Adebayo, Wiggins and Kel’el Ware, who was a non-factor, closing with seven points and four rebounds.

The Heat entered 2-6 with that lineup, one that saw action amid the Heat’s late-season 10-game losing streak.

“Wanted to be able to organize ourselves offensively a little bit better at the start, with Tyler off the ball,” Spoelstra said of starting Mitchell.

Rotation tinkering was almost immediately required, with Mitchell and Wiggins each called for two first-quarter fouls.

Mitchell then came alive late, just as he did in Sunday night’s fourth quarter.

He said he was not surprised by the start.

“He’s trusted me all season,” Mitchell said of Spoelstra. “Even if he didn’t start me, he played me starter’s minutes.”

5. Larsson, Jovic, too: Among those injected into the Heat rotation were rookie guard Pelle Larsson and third-year forward Nikola Jovic, their first postseason action of substance.

Larsson entered in the first Heat substitution in the first quarter. Jovic entered midway through the second period.

While Larsson was limited in his minutes and contribution, Jovic’s size and ballhandling proved unexpectedly effective.

Larsson had been out of the rotation since spraining his right ankle during a lifting session 90 minutes before the play-in opening victory over the Chicago Bulls last week.

Jovic had not played rotation minutes since breaking his right hand in the Feb. 23 road loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, with this his second game back.

Jovic closed with 11 points and eight rebounds, Larsson with two points and two rebounds.

“Niko gave us a real big boost offensively,” Spoelstra said. “We just look different when he’s on the floor.”