MIAMI — The concerns coming in about the dominance of Cleveland Cavaliers in the first two games of this three-game series were largely overstated, considering Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo missed both.
So Friday night, Butler and Adebayo made their statements, with the mostly whole Miami Heat looking a whole lot better, this time with a 117-105 victory Friday night at FTX Arena.
Against a Cavaliers lineup lacking sidelined center Jarrett Allen, Adebayo went for 30 points and 17 rebounds. Playing in attack mode on both ends, Butler offered some of his aggressive best in closing with 24 points, including 10 of 12 from the line.
“They beat us twice,” Adebayo said, “so we really had to win this one.”
Factor in 22 points off the bench from Tyler Herro and 17 from Max Strus, and the Heat were quick to move past the sting of Wednesday night’s 111-90 loss to the league-leading Phoenix Suns.
“We bounced back,” Adebayo said
There now will be a quick turnaround, with a Saturday game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the fifth game on this season-longest seven-game homestand.
Five Degrees of Heat from Friday’s game:
— 1. Closing time: The Heat led by 13 early, 10 at the end of the opening period and 14 in the second quarter before taking a one-point lead into halftime.
From there, there was an 85-72 lead going into the fourth.
Yet even after the Heat built a 16-point lead with 7:10 to play, the Cavaliers were able to close within eight with 3:57 left.
That’s when Butler stepped up with four consecutive free throws to put it away.
— 2. Inside edge: With Allen sidelined with a fractured finger, Adebayo made the most of his inside edge, recording his ninth triple-double in the last 13 games by the early minutes of the third quarter.
Adebayo’s seventh defensive rebound moved him past Grant Long for seventh on the Heat all-time list. His third free throw moved him past Tim Hardaway for 12th on the Heat all-time list, and his fourth free-throw attempt moved him past Goran Dragic for 11th on the Heat all-time list.
— 3. Butler ball: After the Heat’s 9-0 start, Cleveland’s defense largely had the Heat halfcourt offense stifled.
That’s when the Heat turned to Butler and his mid-post game, which helped spark a 13-0 third-quarter run,
Butler, who missed the loss to the Suns due to sinus congestion, scored 11 in the third.
Butler’s 14th point was the 12,000th of his career.
— 4. Herro again: Herro continued his torrid play since the All-Star break, in somewhat of a showdown of contenders for Sixth Man of the Year.
Going against the Cavaliers’ Kevin Love, Herro again energized the bench, his creativity offering answers against Cleveland’s halfcourt defense.
Love closed with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Herro’s second 3-pointer moved him past LeBron James for 13th on the Heat all-time list.
— 5. Martin out, Strus in: Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said reserve forward Caleb Martin wanted to play through the hyperextended left knee sustained in Wednesday night’s home loss to the Phoenix Suns, but the staff decided otherwise.
Spoelstra said the mere fact that Martin could be listed as questionable was heartening.
“Very encouraging,” Spoelstra said. “He tried to come up to me before shootaround this morning, saying that he wants to warm up and give it a go. And we just said, ‘No, we’ll step in.’ And we’ll treat him day to day.’
“I don’t even know if we think it’s smart to play [Saturday, against the visiting Timberwolves]. Considering how awkward it looked, this is great news.”
With Martin out, Strus was back in the primary rotation, after being limited to 15 minutes of mop-up duty the previous two games after the return of Victor Oladipo.
Strus promptly converted a pair of 3-pointers and a dunk, closing the first half with his third 3-pointer, to give the Heat a 58-57 lead at the intermission.
