CLEVELAND — Takeaways from the Heat’s 100-97 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse:
No team has played more close games than the Heat, and that trend continued.
With the Heat ahead 89-87 with just under five minutes left, Gabe Vincent pushed Miami’s lead to five with a three-pointer before a Darius Garland jumper made it 92-89.
After Butler’s five footer rimmed out, a three by Isaac Okoro tied it with 3:28 to go. Then Butler missed a 20-footer. But Donovan Mitchell made only one of two free throws, and Bam Adebayo hit a jumper on the other end, putting the Heat ahead by one.
Vincent then made a steal, and after Butler missed a layup, Adebayo scored on the put-back to put the Heat up 96-93 with 1:56 to go.
Okoro then stepped out of bounds on a wasted Cavs possession, and Butler drove and sank a 12-footer to put the Heat ahead five with 1:23 remaining.
The teams traded unsuccessful possessions, and a Butler free throw pushed the margin to 99-94 with 11 seconds to go.
A Darius Garland three pulled Cleveland to within 99-97 with nine seconds left. Butler then missed another free throw (his second miss in the final minute) but hit the second to make it 100-97.
Donovan Mitchell missed a 27-foot three pointer just before the buzzer.
The Heat held Mitchell to 16 points, 12 below his average this season. He shot just 6 for 17 overall.
Miami has played a league high 148 minutes of clutch time, defined by the NBA as games with a margin of five points or fewer in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime.
The Heat entered 19-15 in those clutch games.
The Heat’s offense malfunctioned to start the fourth, but Tyler Herro snapped Miami out of that funk and Adebayo and Butler carried Miami home.
Miami didn’t get a point from its first eight fourth-quarter possessions, which ended with three misses from Gabe Vincent, turnovers by Victor Oladipo and Max Strus, and a Caris LaVert block of an Oladipo layup in transition and an Oladipo turnover on a Dean Wade steal.
Then Bam Adebayo couldn’t get a shot off against Evan Mobley, a possession ending in a shot clock violation.
The Heat didn’t score in the quarter until Herro hit a 10-footer 4:58 into the fourth, then followed that up with a four-point play (a three and a free throw off a LaVert foul). And just like that, the game was tied at 85.
That Herro basket began a stretch of four consecutive successful Heat possessions, including a Matin 14 footer.
Then Adebayo - who had scored only two second half points until the final minutes of the game - hit the two big baskets. He finished with 18 points and 11 boards.
And Butler shook off the three crunch time misses to hit a big one to make it a five point game.
Butler finished with 22 on 6 for 15 shooting.
Caleb Martin, with a huge size disadvantage, played very well for the second time in three games.
Martin, operating a seven-inch height deficit against 7-0 Evan Mobley, was a whirlwind of energy, pulling down eight first half boards and outrebounding Mobley 10 to 4.
Offensively, Martin hit his first four three-pointers, and his first seven shots overall, before finally missing. He finished the night with 18 points on 7 for 8 shooting.
Butler and Martin led the Heat back from an early 16-5 deficit. But aside from Herro’s fourth quarter spurt and the Vincent three, there wasn’t enough offense from the Heat’s guards.
This was another quiet night from Kyle Lowry.
The Heat’s point guard opened 0 for 2, finished 2 for 5 and is now 8 for his last 29.
He’s shooting a career-low 40 percent from the field. His 12 first half minutes didn’t include a point, rebound, steal or assist but featured two turnovers. Then he committed a turnover on the Heat’s first possession of the second half.
His first basket of the night came on a corner three, 4:14 into the third.
Lowry has now scored in single digits in six of his past eight games.
And for the first time in four games, Erik Spoelstra played Vincent ahead of Oladipo during the game’s decisive moments.
Oladipo struggled again with his shot through a 2 for 8 night, and is now 12 for his last 34 and 4 for his last 25 on threes. But he made several really nice passes on a six-assist night, and his seven boards were helpful, as was his defense.
What helped keep the Heat afloat - beyond Butler and Martin - was the Cavs’ poor three point shooting. Clevland opened 6 for 25 and closed 11 for 340 on threes, including 3 for 13 by Mitchell..
The Heat moved closer to a top four seed.
Miami entered 2.5 games behind No. 5 Cleveland and 3.5 behind No. 4 Brooklyn. The Heat now is just 1.5 games behind No. 4 Cleveland and is three games behind the No. 4 Nets.
Miami(29-23) also remained ahead of the 27-24 Knicks for sixth in the East.
Some of the Heat’s usual problems didn’t rear their ugly heads.
Miami has been outscored, on average, by 1.8 points in the third quarter - third-worst in the league and ahead of only Detroit and the Lakers. On Sunday, a 33-24 Charlotte third quarter blitz erased a Heat lead in a loss to open this four-game road trip.
On Tuesday, the Heat’s 55-52 halftime lead was gone in less than two minutes. But Miami steadiest itself after a 10-0 Cavs run to the start the third and led for much of the rest of the quarter.
The Heat - which entered 27th in the league in three-point shooting - had an unusually good night from distance, opening 7 for 15 and finishing 14 for 31 (45.2 percent), thanks in large part to Martin’s ? for ? night.
Miami’s lack of size - an issue on defensive switches at times this year, especially early in the year - wasn’t a big problem Tuesday.
