Cavs outlast Heat 121-112 in Game 2

Cleveland looked rough down the stretch, but they did enough to extend the series lead to 2-0.

The Cleveland Cavaliers released artificial snow after a second-quarter run. It felt like their 43-point second quarter was going to bury the Miami Heat in Game 2. But in typical Heat fashion, they got off the mat, cut a 19-point deficit to two, and had a chance to win it late.

The Cavs were able to rally to put the Heat away down the stretch to come away with a 121-112 victory, but it wasn’t the demonstrative win it seemed like it was going to be at the midway point.

It took a minute for the Cavs to get rolling. Miami was the more physical and hungry team at the start. The starters struggled to match that and fell behind by as many as nine midway through the first quarter.

Cleveland’s much-maligned reserves were the ones that turned things around. Ty Jerome provided six quick first-quarter points off the bench to get them back into it. Throw in five points from Evan Mobley in the final few minutes of the quarter and it isn’t hard to see why Cleveland ended the frame with a modest one-point advantage.

Things escalated in the second. The Cavs went on a 17-4 run powered by two threes from Sam Merrill and additional ones from Donovan Mitchell and Max Strus. That was enough to set off the artificial snow blowers set up in the top corners of the arena to signify the Cavalanche.

The Cavs closed the half strong. They took a 17-point lead into the break thanks to a 43-27 second quarter.

Miami didn’t roll over. They competed to cut the deficit to 14 going into the fourth thanks to 10 third-quarter points from Tyler Herro.

That carried through to the rest of the game. Miami kept consistently chipping away at the deficit until they cut it to two with four minutes left in the fourth. It was a back-and-forth affair from there.

Mitchell, however, wasn’t going to let his team lose despite what seemed like their best efforts. He drained enough pull-up threes late to accumulate 17 fourth-quarter points and overcome Cleveland’s suspect defense.

The Cavs escaped with the victory, but it wasn’t the resounding, dominant win it seemed like it was going to be midway through. Cleveland was outscored 61-53 in the second half in a game that was much closer than it had any right to be.

Mitchell led the Cavs with 30 points on 10-21 shooting to go along with six rebounds and six assists. Mobley had a nice bounce-back as he provided 20 points on 7-10 shooting with six rebounds. Darius Garland supplied 21 points on 6-14 shooting and nine helpers.

Herro finished with a game-high 33 points on 14-24 shooting and five assists. Davion Mitchell added 18 points on 7-9 shooting for Miami.

The Cavs will look to extend their 2-0 lead in Game 3 when the series shifts to Miami. Game 3 is Saturday at 1 PM.