MIAMI – After Darius Garland and Tyler Herro traded barbs in the media, one of the biggest storylines coming into Game 3 was Herro’s defense. He had been hunted over and over down the stretch of Cleveland’s Game 2 win, and most expected Erik Spoelstra to come up with some adjustment going into Game 3.
He did. The Heat slotted Herro on Sam Merrill (playing in Garland’s place, who was out with a toe injury) and had him switch less and show higher on ball screens. It worked for the most part, and he wasn’t picked on as much.
Problem is that the Cavs identified a new weak link: Kel’el Ware.
Multiple times in the opening minutes, the Cavaliers called Ware up into the action. The Cavaliers scored on three straight possessions on empty side pick-and-rolls designed to make Ware defend in space. It didn’t go well for the rookie.
The Cavaliers opened up an early 10-point lead and took control of the game as they poured in a series-high in points en route to a 124-87 win on Saturday at Kaseya Center. The Heat slip to 0-3 in the series.
It’s not a coincidence that Ware only played 13 minutes in the first three quarters before garbage time.
The Heat wanted to match up with Cleveland’s size, but there’s a big difference between starting two All-Stars in Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, and a rookie alongside Bam Adebayo.
The Heat might be equal in size, but not in experience. The Ware-Adebayo frontcourt is still working out the kinks that Allen and Mobley worked out over the past four years.
Playing the Cavs three times in a week should provide valuable first-hand experience for Miami’s burgeoning frontcourt.
“I feel for him because there’s an expectation that he has to be there like a vet,” Spoelstra said. “These are important learning experiences. He’s getting better from it because if anything’s not at the highest level, whether it’s an effort, awareness, a communication standpoint, in the playoffs, you pay the price on that.”
In all, the Heat were outscored 60-30 in the paint. After shooting at a 50.3% clip in the first two games, the offense regressed to the mean (42.1% from the field) and stalled out.
It was a stark reminder that, as close as Miami played them in Game 2, the East’s No. 1 seed can shift into a gear the Heat simply do not have.
Perhaps this should have been the expectation the whole time. For those predicting a five-game series, maybe Game 2 was the win that got away. The Cavaliers responded from a close call by putting together their most dominant wire-to-wire game of the series, and they did it without one of their star guards.
Herro, who had been electric in the first two games, was taken out of the afternoon’s events by Max Strus face-guarding and denying the ball.
Bam Adebayo was aggressive but could not carry the offense. Davion Mitchell had his moments, but there’s only so much the defensive-leaning guard can shoulder on offense.
Spoelstra sorted through his options on the bench, but Pelle Larsson and Nikola Jovic did not have another spark in them and Duncan Robinson struggled to find airspace against Cleveland’s dialed-in defense. The Heat bench was out-scored 52-18 as Ty Jerome (13 points) and De’Andre Hunter (21 points) dominated their minutes.
The Cavaliers are awesome. They are a fully-formed group that has hammered out chemistry and an identity through years of work, steady accumulation of talent, and a well-timed coaching change.
Meanwhile, the Heat are at a crossroads. Somewhere beyond one of the most successful eras in franchise history and whatever comes next. They are more talented than their record suggests, but they – understandably – lack the chemistry and identity that gets tested in the playoffs.
This series isn’t over, but it virtually is. No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit to win a playoff series. Even if the Heat manage to extend the series with a win on their home floor in Game 4 on Monday, they’ll only be gathering more first-hand experience against a team as good as they aspire to be.