Dribbles: Cavs’ early egg proves costly in loss to Heat

March 25, 2026

Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers, Cavs, Heat, NBA — AP

CLEVELAND — Random dribbles from the Cavaliers’ 120-103 home loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday.

1. The Cavaliers had been living on borrowed time a little bit lately. Eventually, it was gonna catch up. On Wednesday, it did.

2. The Cavs were bad in the first half. Sluggish offensively. Failing to gather loose balls. Couldn’t get stops. Trailed by 17 at halftime and it could’ve been worse.

3. Then came the third quarter. Looked like a different team. Energy, shot-making, holding their ground defensively. They outscored the Heat by 17. Tie game with 12 minutes to go.

4. It didn’t take long for things to fall apart again. But here’s the thing — the Heat were really good. Better than usual. As Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said after, “They had a lot of their role players making shots, so …”

5. This is the NBA, so there are really no excuses. But the Cavs played the previous night, and while they didn’t say so, that may have been a reason for the early blahs. They looked beat. Miami took full advantage.

6. The one thing I will say is that the Cavs (45-28) haven’t exactly been dominant lately — despite entering the night on a four-game win streak. They lost to the lowly Mavericks at home, then won three straight on the road over non-playoff contenders. None of those wins were convincing.

7. Then they returned home Tuesday, fought off the Magic, and got ripped by the coach for lacking defensive intensity.

8. The Heat (39-34) are very hot-and-cold. They can have nights like this. They seemed to just TAKE the game, and they deserve credit for that. Again, they’ll do that sometimes. Other nights? Not so much.

9. So, when the Cavs face the Heat again Friday … well, the home team may get the other version of Miami. The Cavs certainly should be motivated after this particular downer.

10. Anyway, I’m sort of just rambling on here, thinking out loud. I guess back-to-backs can be tough on old sportswriters, too.

11. But truth is, I don’t know how I feel about this. Part of me thinks the Cavs looked pretty bad. Part of me thinks they looked good late and ran out of gas. Most of me thinks we’re really not gonna know much about this team until the actual playoffs begin.

12. Donovan Mitchell was again mostly brilliant with 28 points, one night after erupting for 42. James Harden finished with 18 points (on just 10 shots), nine rebounds and seven assists. That said, he’s probably not in love with his five turnovers.

13. Sam Merrill is also becoming a bigger offensive threat, scoring 18 himself and just playing with more aggressiveness. Keon Ellis added 17 and his usual dose of defensive hustle.

14. Meanwhile, Evan Mobley finished up an 8-of-8 shooting night with a 3-of-8 night. Eight makes, three makes … he could probably use more than eight shots. But a big part of that is him demanding to do it. Not forcing. Just asserting.

15. Granted, Miami’s defense really collapsed on Mobley once he got the ball. “They’re a darn good defensive team,” Atkinson said, adding that the next step for Mobley is figuring out what to do in those situations.

16. Overall, the Cavs were just 12-of-37 on 3-pointers; compared to 18-of-45 for the Heat. That was basically the difference. “That happens in the NBA,” Atkinson said. “They made ’em, we didn’t.”

17. Norman Powell led the balanced Heat with 19. Tyler Herro scored 18, though 83-point man Bam Adebayo was held to 17 on 6-of-19 shooting. Mobley did do a nice job on Adebayo. Just probably not enough offensively.

18. The Cavs were without Jarrett Allen (knee) for the 10th straight game. They were also missing top wing defenders Jaylon Tyson (toe), Max Strus (foot management), and yes, Dean Wade, who suffered a freak ankle injury while warming up before the game. We have that story here.

19. But the problem wasn’t defense nearly as much as it was the Cavs’ failing to record their normal offensive output. You don’t want to give up 120, but even when the Cavs do, they still usually manage to win.

20. Next up: These very Heaters once again on Friday, once again at Rocket Arena. Nine games to go. The Cavs have some things to shore up. They know what they are. They’ve only got a couple weeks left to take care of it.