Cavs finally know their first-round playoff opponent

Cleveland will open up their playoff run against the Miami Heat.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will be taking on the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs that begin this weekend. The Heat advanced out of the Play-In Tournament as the tenth seed by defeating both the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks on the road. Their win Friday in Atlanta came in a 123-114 overtime win.

Miami has had an unconventional path to the playoffs.

Their season started poorly due to constant conflicts with Jimmy Butler. The Heat didn’t give Butler the contract extension he wanted this past summer. Butler then requested a trade midseason. Team president Pat Riley issued a statement in December that they weren’t going to trade Butler. This led to Butler forcing his hand, getting suspended by the team three times, and eventually getting traded to the Golden State Warriors.

The Heat struggled after the Butler trade and went 4-17 in their next 21 games after the deal. This included a 10-game losing streak.

Miami rallied from there, as they seem to always do. They ended the season strong and then took care of business in the Play-In.

They aren’t a good team, as evidenced by their 37-45 record, but they do have some top-end talent with a proven track record of playoff success in Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. Throw in an all-time great head coach in Erik Spolestra, and they aren’t exactly the first team you’d sign up to play in the opening round if you’re a one seed.

Still, the Cavs have significantly more talent than the Heat. They’ve shown to be the better team in nearly every aspect all season. That showed through in their three matchups this year, where the Cavs went 2-1. You’d expect that to carry over to the playoffs.

Donovan Mitchell has been Cleveland’s leading scorer against Miami. He’s averaging 24 points on .482/.370/889 shooting splits with 5.3 assists per game in three outings. Evan Mobley has averaged 14 points and 10.3 rebounds per game on 65.5% shooting against the Heat this season.

Miami has a quick turnaround from Friday night. They will travel to Cleveland to take on the Cavs in Game 1. Tip-off for the first game is at 7 PM.