bushwick_bill
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MIAMI — The Cavs hit rock bottom Sunday night.
Embarrassed by the Miami Heat, 121-84, Cleveland suffered its third straight loss and fourth in the last five games. This was, by far, the ugliest of the year — its most-lopsided defeat, even less competitive than the 33-point margin against Miami in late November.
Sunday was supposed to be an exciting night in Miami. Not just because it was the finale of the popular and untamed Ultra Music Festival that took over much of downtown. - lol
But because it was the return of young forward Evan Mobley.
Apparently, Mobley can’t fix all of the team’s current problems. There are too many.
Mobley scored the first points of the game — a smooth 3-pointer from the left wing. That was the Cavs’ first, last, and only lead of the night. They got clobbered the rest of the way, trailing for 46 total minutes, by as many as 45.
This wasn’t just an off night. It wasn’t solely about missing star guard Donovan Mitchell (nasal fracture and knee bruise), Max Strus (knee strain) and Dean Wade (knee soreness) — although that trio would’ve helped.
It was an uncharacteristic and unacceptable top-to-bottom no-show.
No heart or effort. Missed layups. Comical turnovers (three of them in the first five possessions). Absurd fouls. An inability to solve the Heat zone. Baffling lineups. Abysmal body language. An overall nonchalance against a no-nonsense opponent that outclassed them in every way, sending another clear message with the playoffs just weeks away. The Cavs looked distracted and exhausted.
By the end of a listless first half, they trailed by 21 points. It only got worse from there.
After Miami opened the third quarter on an 11-5 run, Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff pulled all five of his starters — Darius Garland, Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, Jarrett Allen and Mobley, wanting to save their legs on the first game of a back-to-back. The only one who re-entered was Mobley, as he clearly needs game reps and conditioning work following a nine-game absence because of an ankle injury.
Cleveland scored a season-low 84 points on 41.7% shooting and 31% from 3-point range. Only one starter — Mobley — hit the double-digit scoring mark. He finished with a team-high 15 points on 4 of 6 shooting, 2 of 2 from beyond the arc and 5 of 6 from the foul line in 21 minutes.
The balanced Heat, playing without Jaime Jacquez Jr., Kevin Love and Tyler Herro, had seven players in double-digits. Swingman Haywood Highsmith poured in a game-high 18 points off the bench. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo had 15 apiece. Miami scored 35 points off Cleveland’s 17 turnovers. It finished plus-14 on the glass. Had 29 assists on 43 made shots.
The Cavs didn’t have answers. For anything.
With 10 games remaining, this group that considers itself an Eastern Conference contender suddenly has some soul-searching to do. Can the Cavs regroup and pick themselves back up?
Up next
The Cavs will return home for the second game of a back-to-back against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.