Ready to rock!
The Miami Heat are first place in the Eastern Conference, sitting at 44-23 with an impressive 23-8 record at home. In conference play, Miami is 28-13, and 7-3 in their last ten games.
The Heat will face off against the Cleveland Cavaliers (38-27) for the final time this season on Friday night, 8:00 PM at FTX Arena. Overall, this will be the 122nd regular season meeting where Miami leads the series, 73-48. The Cleveland Cavaliers, meanwhile, are sixth place in the East with a road record of 18-16.
The Heat have felt the burn from the Cleveland Cavaliers as they dropped their last two meetings. On December 1st, 2021, the Heat suffered a 111-85 loss. Secondly, the Heat suffered a 105-94 defeat on December 13th, 2021. The leading scorers in those matchups were Tyler Herro, who had 21 points and six assists; where Miami was shooting 32-of-85 from the field, 12-of-37 from downtown, and 9-of-13 from the free throw line.
As twelve days passed, P.J. Tucker has contributed 23 points, nine rebounds, and five assists while going 9-of-15 from the field. Stepping up in the process as well was Kyle Lowry, who had 22 points, five assists, and three rebounds. Both Lowry and Tucker drained nine three point baskets out of sixteen attempts. In essence, the Heat were 38-of-85 from the field, 13-of-40 from downtown, and 5-of-9 from the line.
In theory, Miami started an 11-game winning streak in the 2011-12 regular season back on January 24th, 2012 and edged out the Cavs, 92-85. The streak carried all the way towards December 25th, 2014, getting a 101-91 victory. During those eleven games, the Heat established 1,133 points, 432 boards, and 244 assists. The first matchup took place on November 27th, 1988, where Cleveland won, 109-80. The Cleveland Cavaliers tallied nine straight wins to start off this NBA rivalry, which the nine-game winning streak concluded on February 12th, 1991 with a 94-78 win. Miami’s first ever regular season victory against Cleveland came on March 26th, 1991 with a 104-98 mark.
As a matter of team play, the Heat have 7,330 points, 2,968 rebounds, 1,723 assists, 504 steals, and 226 blocks. The Heat are shooting 2,652-5,732 from the field, 892-2,372 from downtown, 1,760-3,351 from two, and 1,134-1,405 at the line. In 67 games total, Miami has played 16,255 minutes as their opponents tallied up 7,016 points. Playing against the Cavaliers, the Heat have posted 11,396 points overall.
The Heat are led by their head coach Erik Spoelstra, who has coached Miami since 2008 with an overall record of 1,098-651. Spoelstra is two wins away from achieving 1,100 victories, and he was the assistant coach for the Heat from 1997-2008. Also, Spoelstra attended The University of Portland along with Jesuit High School. Speaking of great achievements, Tyler Herro has been quite a shining star for the first-place Heat. Herro leads the team with 1,118 points, 258 rebounds, and 211 assists while shooting 414-940 from the field, 141-367 from downtown, 273-573 from two, and 149-172 shooting free throws at 1,764 minutes started.
Therefore, in six games battled against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Herro has garnered 96 points, posted 15 assists, and 13 boards. Herro hasn’t missed a free throw by going 16-16. Out of 862 minutes played, Jimmy Butler netted 462 points, 133 rebounds, 106 assists in a total of 28 games career wise versus Cleveland. On the other note, Butler has 983 points, 283 rebounds, and 260 assists. Bam Adebayo has also made his name known for the Heat with 789 points, 427 rebounds, and 150 assists. With 13 Cavaliers games in the books, Adebayo collected 190 points, 108 rebounds, and 59 assists.
Rounding out the top four Heat players in scoring is Duncan Robinson, who has added 729 points, 181 boards, and 105 assists. In Robinson’s nine games on the hard wood playing against the Cavaliers, he has 132 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists in 259 minutes.
To put the matter into perspective, here are some key players to watch out for against Cleveland: Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Duncan Robinson, Kyle Lowry, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, and Kevin Love.
In a matter of transition, will the Miami Heat prevail? Or, will the Cleveland Cavaliers continue to stay hot by winning their third straight meeting at the Heat?
(Featured image by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)