5 takeaways from the Miami Heat's big loss to the Cavaliers

The injury-plagued Miami Heat suffered their worst loss of the season, losing 114-84 to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

1. Beating the Cavs at home is a tall order. Doing it with eight players? Near impossible.

Dec 9, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives as Miami Heat guard Wayne Ellington (2) defends during the second half at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavs won 114-84. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /

A 30-point loss never feels good. Especially when it comes at the hands of a guy who used to play on your team. But the fact is, the Miami Heat had eight players available for tonight’s game. That’s almost half the roster missing in action.

And their opponent, the Cleveland Cavaliers, are currently humming on all cylinders. LeBron James is the best player in basketball. Kyrie Irving is averaging a career-high 25 points per game. And Kevin Love looks like the Minnesota version of Kevin Love.

It would have been great to see the Heat put up more of a fight. I get that. But sometimes, it’s just not gonna happen. Suiting up eight players, on the road, against one of the two best teams in the sport, are ridiculous odds for anyone to be facing. Especially a team that went through as many changes in the off-season as Miami did.

The Heat are going to need time to mesh and gel and figure things out. At this point, forget about results. A clean bill of health is all we should root for.

2. Coach Erik Spoelstra made interesting comments about Hassan Whiteside before the game

Dec 7, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra reacts on the court during the game against the Atlanta Hawks during the first half at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

Before tip-off, head coach Erik Spoelstra had this to say about Hassan Whiteside:

Spo on @youngwhiteside "If he doesn't dominate at the rim on both ends we don't have a chance to win."
— Manny Navarro (@Manny_Navarro) December 9, 2016

How did the young center respond to the challenge? Not well. Whiteside scored eight points, on 4-of-10 shooting, to go with 12 rebounds, four turnovers and no blocks. It’s his second game in a row scoring under double-digit points.

Whiteside is going through a bit of a rough patch, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him find his form against the Bulls on Saturday night. Miami’s big man tends to play his best when he feels doubted. The last time he failed to score in double-digits in back-to-back games, Whiteside responded by averaging 22 points and 15 rebounds over the following three. Hopefully the trend continues.

3. Derrick Williams finally had a nice game

Dec 9, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Miami Heat forward Derrick Williams (22) shoots during the first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /

Miami’s power forward scored a season-high 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting. It’s tough to get excited about though, seeing as how the Heat got trounced anyways. Further, he didn’t have much of a statistical contribution anywhere else. He failed to make a three, he brought down just one rebound, and had just one assist.

If it seems like I’m being too hard on him, I’ll apologize by sharing one of his highlights:

That’s also the only highlight the Heat had all night. So hopefully, everyone enjoyed it.

4. Josh McRoberts might be playing himself back to the bench

Dec 9, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) defends the shot of Miami Heat forward Josh McRoberts (4) during the first half at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /

A few days ago, I wrote about how McRoberts is Miami’s best option to start at power forward. Over the last two games, he’s done everything in his power to prove me wrong. After a terrible two point performance against the Hawks on Wednesday, McRoberts followed it up with another doozy.

The nine-year veteran big man scored six points on 3-for-12 shooting, to go with four rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes of action. Not much to say about that, and it’s hard to single out just one guy, since the whole team played poorly. But Miami needs more out of the power forward position. A lot more.

5. Cleveland’s big three is on fire

Dec 9, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) and forward Kevin Love (0) celebrate during the first half against the Miami Heat at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /

I won’t go into too much detail, but surprise, the Cavs are really good. We already knew that Irving and LeBron were special, but now that Love is playing the best basketball he has since joining Cleveland, they’re reaching new levels of dominance.

Irving scored 23 points and dropped in two three-pointers. LeBron posted his typical “almost” triple-double, finishing with 27 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. The star of the night though was Love, who had 28 points, three three-pointers, 15 rebounds and three assists. He almost sat the game out due to back spasms too. I won’t compare it to the “Jordan flu game“, but it was close.

I wish I could say that now the Heat get a week off to rest at home and come back once they’re healthy. Sadly, that’s not the case. They are currently en-route to Chicago to face off with Dwyane Wade (remember him?) and the 12-10 Bulls tomorrow night. Game tips at 8.

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5 takeaways from the Miami Heat’s big loss to the Cavaliers

By Frank Urbina | Dec 10, 2016