Not even the return of Bam Adebayo could snap Miami out of a nightlong funk.
The Miami Heat remained shorthanded Sunday night even with the welcome return of Bam Adeyabo, and yet it wasn’t even close enough tonight against the surging Cleveland Cavaliers in a 113-87 blowout loss on the road.
Though the team played well enough to win— despite the absence of so many players — in their previous game and yet ultimately fell in overtime to the Washington Wizards, this time around they hung around by the end of the first quarter down a single point and then proceeded to be outscored by 30 points the following two quarters to drop their road record to 1-6 for the season.
Adebayo led the team with 21 points while also chipping in six rebounds and Caleb Martin was second with 17 points. Only reserve Dewayne Dedmon ended up in double-digit scoring with 10 points, while starters Kyle Lowry and Max Strus combined for 17 points on 5-19 shooting and 3-12 from 3-point territory, a place where the team shot 6-31 (19.4%) collectively.
While Jamal Cain scored an efficient eight points on 4-6 shooting in 12 minutes off the bench, Haywood Highsmith had every chance to build on a decent fourth quarter showing in Washington but was invisible in a scoreless night with four rebounds in 29 minutes. Rookie big man Orlando Robinson was also scoreless in eight minutes.
Perhaps one of the the biggest disappointments this Heat season who continues to underwhelm is Duncan Robinson wasting another chance to showcase himself after missing the Wizards game from a freak injury but only finishing with seven points in 21 minutes. He went just 1-3 from deep and registered only one rebound and zero assists while committing two turnovers before limping off with another injury, this time a possible sprained left ankle in the second half.
In contrast Cleveland needed just 13 points from Donovan Mitchell in a well-rounded team performance featuring Darius Garland with a team-leading 25 points and Cedi Osman with 21 points off the bench. They outrebounded Miami 49-30 and enjoyed a 31-17 advantage in assists while building a lead of more than 20 points in the third quarter after leading 59-42 at the half and eventually cruising to victory.
Miami is now on a 3-game losing streak and a season record of 7-10. They next visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night at 8:00pm.