Off the bench, Kevin Love leads Cavaliers over Heat
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) shoots between Miami Heat center Dewayne Dedmon (21) and guard Tyler Herro (14) in the fourth quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Reserve forward Kevin Love scored a team-high 23 points — all in the second half — to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to their fourth straight win, a 105-94 home victory over the Miami Heat on Monday night.
It’s the third time this season that the Cavaliers have won four straight games.
Love took just two shots in the first half. In the second half, he made 6-of-8 shots from the floor, including 5-of-7 on 3-pointers. Love also led Cleveland in rebounding with nine boards in 23 minutes.
23 points on 6-8 shooting in the 2nd half for @kevinlove ignites the @cavs! pic.twitter.com/CpjC4zkNj6
— NBA (@NBA) December 14, 2021
P.J. Tucker led Miami with a season-high 23 points. Tucker, who added nine rebounds, made 9-of-15 shots from the floor, including 5-of-8 from behind the arc.
Kyle Lowry added 22 points for the Heat, who continue to play without two of their top three scorers — Jimmy Butler (tailbone injury) and Bam Adebayo (thumb surgery).
Miami led 25-23 after the first quarter thanks to Tyler Herro’s jumper at the buzzer. With his feet on the 3-point line, Herro’s shot bounced high off the rim, danced on the rim a second time and then went in off the backboard.
That shot perfectly illustrated how close that first quarter was with five lead changes and three ties.
But the Cavaliers took control with a 27-7 second-quarter run as Cleveland closed the first half with a 55-44 lead.
Both teams shot 40 percent from the floor in the first half, but Cleveland surged on top by making 9-of-19 shots from behind the arc and 8-of-9 free throws. Miami made 7 threes in the first half and just a single free throw.
Miami started the third quarter on a 10-0 run that was broken with a bit of Cavs luck as Isaac Okoro somehow banked in a corner 3-pointer. Okoro was the second-leading scorer for the Cavs, finishing with 18 points.
The Heat finally caught the Cavs at 64-64, but Cleveland didn’t relinquish the lead and ended the third quarter on top, 78-73. Cleveland was in solid control throughout the fourth quarter.
For the game, Cleveland shot 44.4 percent from the floor and on 3-pointers (16-of-36), while Miami made just 32.5 percent of its threes.
Ricky Rubio had seven points and a team-high seven assists off the bench for Cleveland. Jarrett Allen tallied 17 points and eight boards.
The biggest difference came at the foul line, where Cleveland shot 17-of-18. Miami shot just 5-of-9.
