It is going to take a bit more than “Heat Culture” for Miami to turn things around in its opening round matchup with the Cavaliers.
Cleveland cruised to a 124-87 victory to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. The Cavaliers left the first quarter with a 33-20 lead and never looked back. The lead extended to as large as 40 points, with Cleveland just outclassing Miami in every aspect of basketball.
This marked the worst loss in Heat playoff history. The Cavaliers continue to carry a chip on their shoulder as they look for others to believe in their championship goals. They kept their foot on the gas from start to finish, including outscoring the Heat 36-23 in the fourth quarter despite the massive lead. Cleveland also outscored Miami by 30 points in the paint in this matchup.
The Cavaliers comfortably covered the 5.5-point spread on DraftKings Sportsbook, with the game falling just under the 213-point game total.
Jarrett Allen ($6,100, 34.25 FPTS) led the Cavaliers in scoring with 22 points and nine rebounds. He was an efficient 8-for-9 from the field and played just 26 minutes due to the blowout.
Donovan Mitchell ($8,500, 19.25 FPTS) was limited to just 13 points on 4-for-14 shooting while also being limited in minutes. Evan Mobley ($8,000, 35.00 FPTS) and Max Strus ($3,900, 38.75 FPTS) each pitched in 19 and 18 points to make up for the lack of scoring from the Cavaliers’ star.
Ty Jerome ($4,300, 39.25 FPTS) continues to make his impact felt off the bench. He added 13 points and 11 assists while shooting 5-for-11 from the field and finishing as a +33 in just 22 minutes of action. Darius Garland was ruled out ahead of this matchup due to a toe issue, but it was no problem for this Cavaliers team. De’Andre Hunter ($4,200, 33.50 FPTS) also made his impact felt off the bench with 21 points, four rebounds and three assists, finishing with a game-high +34.
For the Heat, Bam Adebayo ($8,400, 33.75 FPTS) led the charge with 22 points and nine rebounds. He desperately tried to will this Heat team into the game, but had little help surrounding him and also turned the ball over six times.
Davion Mitchell ($5,200, 33.50 FPTS) had a nice game with 16 points, five assists and four rebounds while shooting 7-for-11 from the field. Tyler Herro ($7,600, 23.50 FPTS) and Andrew Wiggins ($6,900, 19.75 FPTS) both struggled, combining for just 23 points on 8-for-23 from the field and 3-for-7 from beyond the three-point arc.
This convincing outlook is not a huge surprise for DraftKings users, with 93% of the bets and 93% of the betting handle having backed the Cavaliers to win the series leading into this matchup.
Game 4 will take place on Monday and remain in Miami. There has never been a team to come back from a 3-0 series deficit in NBA playoff history.
The Cavaliers open as nine-point favorites and -380 on the moneyline in Monday’s matchup. The Heat hold +300 odds of getting the upset on DraftKings Sportsbook with the game total set at 210.5 for Monday’s matchup.
