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The sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, Miami Heat came into Cleveland to face the fifth seed in the conference, the Cavaliers. The game had the feel of a playoff game, both teams buckled down and played defense, and the game was full of drama.
The Cavs faced a three-point deficit with 8.3 seconds left in the game, with Heat star Jimmy Butler at the line shooting two foul shots. It was 99-97, Butler missed the first of two foul shots to give the Cavs a window to possibly tie or win the game. Butler made the second making the score 100-97. Cavs can only hope to tie. It was a frantic last possession of the game with Donovan Mitchell shooting a three with his body sliding to the baseline, misses, and the Cavs loss a tough one.
The end-of-game execution which has been an issue for the Cavaliers all season came back and reared its ugly head once again. With missed foul shots, bad turnovers, and not fouling earlier in late possessions to save the team more time in trying to route a comeback.
This situation has been prevalent in January, with many games showing the teams’ lack of experience and not executing late. The games against the Jazz, Grizzlies, and Knicks have shown the teams need to improve their late execution.
The standouts for the Heat were Butler and three players for Miami who all finished with 18 points. Bam Adebayo, finished with 18 and 11 rebounds to go with his points. Tyler Herro finished with 18 and made three shots from three-point range. Caleb Martin finished with 18, making four three-pointers, and only missing one shot from the floor.
Despite the loss, the Cavs stand out was Evan Mobley, who finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. Darius Garland was in foul trouble in this game, having five fouls and being one away from fouling out, finished with 16 points. Mitchell finished with 16 points as well.
The Cavs face another test on Thursday, on a TNT game, it will be the second time the Cavaliers have been on TNT this season, with the first game being against Cavalier great, LeBron James and the Los Angles Lakers.
The game on Thursday will be against the Memphis Grizzlies, who the Cavs faced a couple of weeks ago losing 115-14.
It will be telling for the future of this season if the Cavs can improve their late-game execution.
