Heat stay hot, send Cavaliers to sixth straight loss
FILE – Kendrick Nunn #25 of the Miami Heat dribbles during the first half against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on January 25, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Sarah Stier/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Sarah Stier / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Kendrick Nunn scored 22 points, leading the Miami Heat to a 124-107 win over the host Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.
Miami (34-30), which has won six of eight games, also got 20 points from Duncan Robinson. Trevor Ariza added 18 points, and Max Strus had 17, including 14 in the first half. Jimmy Butler had 15 points.
😤 @nunnbetter_ keeps tearing up opposing defenses
22 Pts / 4-of-6 3PT pic.twitter.com/YE4dPKIRUp
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) May 2, 2021
Bam Adebayo added 13 points and 10 rebounds as Miami went four games over .500 for just the second time this season.
Kevin Love and Collin Sexton led Cleveland with 25 points each, but the Cavaliers (21-43) still lost their sixth straight game.
Love, a five-time All-Star, went scoreless on Friday against the Washington Wizards, attempting no shots in 22 minutes. On Saturday, however, he went 9-for-14 from the floor, including 7-for-10 on 3-pointers.
Sexton made 4-for-6 from long range, and the Cavaliers also got 18 points from Dean Wade and 15 points and a game-high 11 assists from Cedi Osman.
Cleveland was without starting guard Darius Garland, who on Friday sprained his ankle when he stepped on the foot of Davis Bertans of the Wizards.
Tyler Herro, Miami’s third-leading scorer (14.9), missed his fourth straight game due to a sore right foot. Miami forwards Udonis Haslem and Nemanja Bjelica, who are not usually in the rotation, sat out due to stomach illnesses.
Cleveland, thanks to 7-for-9 shooting on 3-pointers, grabbed a 36-29 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Cavaliers shot 56.5 percent from the floor, including 77.8 percent on 3-pointers.
Miami outplayed Cleveland in the second, taking a 67-60 lead into halftime. Nunn led the Heat with 15 points, making 6-of-7 shots from the floor all three of the 3-pointers he attempted in the half.
Sexton made his first four shots of the third quarter — including three from long range — and had 12 points in the period. Even so, the Heat stretched their lead to 99-86 headed into the fourth.
Miami cruised in the fourth as coach Erik Spoelstra — with thoughts on Sunday’s game at Charlotte — was able to rest Butler, Robinson and Ariza for the final 12 minutes.
