Heat gets big win in Cleveland. Details and takeaways

Six takeaways from the Heat’s 100-97 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse:

▪ No team has played more close games than the Heat, and that trend continued.

Here’s how the latest Heat stomach-churner unfolded:

With Miami ahead 89-87 with just under five minutes left, Gabe Vincent pushed Miami’s lead to five with a three-pointer before a Darius Garland jumper made it 92-89.

After Jimmy Butler’s five footer rimmed out, a three by Isaac Okoro tied it with 3:28 to go. Then Butler missed a 20-footer. But Donovan Mitchell made only one of two free throws, and Bam Adebayo hit a jumper on the other end, putting the Heat ahead by one. Miami never trailed again.

Vincent then made a steal, and after Butler missed a layup, Adebayo scored on the put-back to put the Heat up 96-93 with 1:56 to go.

Okoro then stepped out of bounds on a wasted Cavs possession, and Butler drove and sank a 12-footer to put the Heat ahead five with 1:23 remaining.

A Garland three pulled Cleveland to within 99-97 with nine seconds left. Butler then missed a free throw but hit the second to make it 100-97.

Mitchell missed a 27-foot three pointer just before the buzzer, as the Heat opted not to foul before he shot.

Did the Heat give thought to fouling instead of allowing Mitchell to get off a three-pointer?

“We talk about it all the time,” Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s a philosophical thing that is a much deeper conversation.”

The Heat held Mitchell to 16 points, 12 below his average this season. He shot just 6 for 17 overall. Caleb Martin (18 points) was among those who defended Mitchell well.

“It was a great win for us,” Tyler Herro said. “It’s very important for us coming off a loss in Charlotte and coming into an arena like this where they don’t lose much at home.”

The Cavaliers entered 21-5 at home.

Miami has played a league high 148 minutes of clutch time, defined by the NBA as games with a margin of five points or fewer in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime.

The Heat is now 20-15 in games featuring clutch minutes.

“We’re facing a team that defends well, a possession oriented team similar to us,” Spoelstra said. “You don’t think this is blowout game. Because of the experiences, we understand what our packages are [late in close games], what we want to do from an execution standpoint. That helps, but that doesn’t guarantee anything. I enjoyed the way we competed and defended going down the stretch. Bam had a deflection. Jimmy had a ridiculous steal.”

The Heat’s defense was very good; Cleveland shot just 11 for 40 (27.5 percent) on threes, with Mitchell shooting 3 for 13 on threes.

“We switched up the coverages from zone to man, switching to blitzing, throwing different looks at their guards and making them make plays on the fly, making the right reads which is never easy,” Herro said. “Making them make threes and speeding them up a little bit.”

▪ The Heat’s offense malfunctioned to start the fourth, but Herro snapped Miami out of that funk and Adebayo and Butler carried Miami home.

Miami didn’t get a point from its first eight fourth-quarter possessions, which ended with three misses from Vincent, turnovers by Victor Oladipo and Max Strus, and a Caris LaVert block of an Oladipo layup in transition and an Oladipo turnover on a Dean Wade steal.

Then Adebayo couldn’t get a shot off against Evan Mobley, a possession ending in a shot clock violation.

The Heat didn’t score in the quarter until Herro hit a 10-footer 4:58 into the fourth, then followed that up with a four-point play (a three and a free throw off a LaVert foul). And just like that, the game was tied at 85.

“Tyler was really important,” Spoelstra said. “He hit those two big threes in the fourth and his pick and roll play you have to account for that. Even when it’s not a big scoring output, what is the effect on their defense and having to account for him? That two man action between him and Bam can often times leave other guys open and that was Caleb a handful of times.”

That Herro basket began a stretch of four consecutive successful Heat possessions, including a Martin 14-footer.

Then Adebayo - who had scored only two second half points until the final minutes of the game - hit the two big baskets. He finished with 18 points and 11 boards.

And Butler shook off the three crunch time misses to hit a big one to make it a five point game. Butler finished with 23 on 6 for 15 shooting, five assists and three steals.

Herro added 18 points, five rebounds and three assists.

▪ Martin, with a huge size disadvantage at power forward, played very well for the second time in three games.

Martin, operating a seven-inch height deficit against 7-0 Mobley, was a whirlwind of energy, pulling down eight first half boards and outrebounding Mobley 10 to 7.

Offensively, Martin hit his first four three-pointers, and his first seven shots overall, before finally missing. He finished the night with 18 points on 7 for 8 shooting.

He also did a good job defensively on Mitchell and others.

“He made some big shots tonight,” Spoelstra said. “He was so active defensively. We all know how explosive Mitchell is and Garland continues to grow. Mitchell is a problem, so shifty and strong. Caleb was really disciplined in our man and zone. His activity level inspires the group. When Caleb is making plays defensively, that ignites other guys.”

Butler and Martin led the Heat back from an early 16-5 deficit.

Martin said he has been limited by the effects of a quadriceps injury. But the Heat couldn’t have asked for more from its starting power forward on Tuesday.

The 7 for 8 shooting “felt really good,” Martin said. “I felt like I needed a game like that.”

He said when he has hesitated to shoot, “that kind of messes up the flow of the offense. When guys get me, open I’ve got to be ready to shoot it. I did a better job of being ready when the ball came to me.”

▪ This was another quiet night from Kyle Lowry.

The Heat’s point guard opened 0 for 2, finished 2 for 5 and is now 8 for his last 29.

He’s shooting a career-low 40 percent from the field. His 12 first half minutes didn’t include a point, rebound, steal or assist but featured two turnovers. Then he committed a turnover on the Heat’s first possession of the second half.

His first basket of the night came on a corner three, 4:14 into the third.

Lowry has now scored in single digits in six of his past eight games. He closed with six points, two assists and three turnovers in 24 minutes.

And for the third time in four games, Erik Spoelstra played Vincent or Oladipo ahead of Lowry during the game’s decisive moments.

Oladipo struggled again with his shot through a 2 for 8 night, and is now 12 for his last 34 and 4 for his last 25 on threes. But he made several really nice passes on a six-assist night, and his seven boards were helpful, as was his defense.

▪ The Heat moved closer to a top four seed.

Miami entered 2.5 games behind No. 5 Cleveland and 3.5 behind No. 4 Brooklyn. The Heat now is just 1.5 games behind No. 5 Cleveland and is three games behind the No. 4 Nets.

Miami (29-23) also moved two games ahead of the 27-25 Knicks for sixth in the East. The Heat and Knicks play in New York City on Thursday.

▪ Some of the Heat’s usual problems didn’t rear their ugly heads.

Miami has been outscored, on average, by 1.8 points in the third quarter - third-worst in the league and ahead of only Detroit and the Lakers. On Sunday, a 33-24 Charlotte third quarter blitz erased a Heat lead in a loss to open this four-game road trip.

On Tuesday, the Heat’s 55-52 halftime lead was gone in less than two minutes. But Miami steadiest itself after a 10-0 Cavs run to the start the third and led for much of the rest of the quarter before a Mitchell three at the buzzer tied the game after three.

The Heat - which entered 27th in the league in three-point shooting - had an unusually good night from distance, opening 7 for 15 and finishing 14 for 31 (45.2 percent), thanks in large part to Martin’s night. Miami came into the game shooting 33 percent on threes.

Miami’s lack of size - an issue on defensive switches at times this year, especially early in the year - wasn’t a big problem Tuesday against a team with ample frontcourt size. The Heat outrebounded Cleveland 45-39.

“They’re a long group,” Martin said. “You have to be ready to hang with those guys because they’re going to kill you on the boards.”

It also helped that Butler looked for his shot from the outset, which he sometimes does and sometimes doesn’t. He scored 11 in the first on 4 for 6 shooting.

“We talked about setting the tone on both sides of the floor, Bam as well,” Butler said. “Whenever I’m attacking and getting into the paint, it makes everybody else’s job easier, get to hit the open shooters, get a layup here and there.”