Cavs embarrass Heat 138-83, punch ticket to second round with sweep

The Cavaliers delivered one of the biggest playoff beatdowns in recent memory.

The Cleveland Cavaliers never gave the Miami Heat even a second to think that they could win Game 4. They scored the first basket and just progressively ran up the score until they finished with a 138-83 victory. The Cavs outscored the Heat by 92 in the two games in Miami to complete the sweep.

Donovan Mitchell set the tone out of the gate. He dominated the first quarter as he provided 13 points and three assists in the opening frame. The 20 points he accounted for with baskets and assists were more than the Heat could muster in the first quarter (17).

Unfortunately for Miami, Mitchell had plenty of help. De’Andre Hunter came in from the bench and immediately provided 11 first-quarter points on 3-3 shooting. And Jarrett Allen was everywhere as he grabbed four boards and supplied 10 points in the first quarter.

Head coach Kenny Atkinson has spoken at length leading up to the playoffs about winning the possession battle. His team thoroughly dominated that in the first quarter, which caused this one-sided affair. Cleveland forced six turnovers and scored 11 points off those miscues while only turning it over once. The Cavs also won the battle for second-chance points in the first by nine.

This all added up to a perposterous 26-point lead after the opening quarter. At this point, Miami started to quiet quit.

The Cavs kept their foot on the gas as they won the second quarter 29-16. Evan Mobley showed his entire scoring arsenal as he comfortably stepped into three-point attempts and supplied eight of his 17 points in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, Miami went from quiet quitting to actually doing so. They continued to turn it over and allow second-chance points. The Cavs made them pay for doing that.

Cleveland’s 72-33 lead at the half was the third-largest point differential at halftime in a postseason game.

The Cavs kept rolling in the second half no matter who was on the court. They pushed their lead to as many as 60 before settling for a 55-point win.

Mitchell led the Cavs with 22 points on 8-15 shooting with five assists in under 25 minutes of play. Hunter supplied 19 on 6-11 shooting. Ty Jerome added 18 points on 5-8 shooting with five assists.

Nikola Jovic had a game-high 24 points and five rebounds. Bam Adebayo had 13 points on 6-13 shooting with 12 rebounds. Tyler Herro was held to just four points on 1-10 shooting.

Miami isn’t a good team. That should be emphasized. But this was as thorough of a beatdown as you’re going to see in a postseason game. The kind of beatdown that sends your team into an existential crisis.

The Cavs are moving on to the conference semifinals for the second year in a row. They will play the winner of the first-round series between the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks. The Pacers currently hold a 3-1 lead.