Heat makes change to starting lineup, snaps five-game skid with road win over Cavs. Takeaways
Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers passes the ball as he is pressured by Norman Powell #24 and Tyler Herro #14 of the Miami Heat during the first half at Rocket Arena on March 25, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio.
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CLEVELAND
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 120-103 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers (45-28) on Wednesday night at Rocket Arena to begin a three-game trip and snap its five-game skid. The Heat (39-34) now remains in Cleveland to finish its two-game set against the Cavaliers on Friday:
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called out the Heat’s defense during this recent losing streak, but the defense delivered down the stretch on Wednesday to snap the skid at five games.
The Heat, which has had a top-five defensive rating for most of the season, was one of the league’s worst defensive teams during its five-game skid. Miami posted the NBA’s 26th-ranked defensive rating (allowing 126 points per 100 possessions) during this string of five straight losses.
But the Heat’s defense answered the call on Wednesday, holding a potent Cavaliers offense to 103 points on 43.2 percent shooting from the field and 12 of 37 (32.4 percent) shooting on threes. The Heat also scored 18 points off 14 Cavaliers turnovers.
Miami allowed just 106.2 points per 100 possessions on Wednesday, improving to 23-3 this season when allowing fewer than 107 points per 100 possessions.
“Defensively, we were very good for the majority of the night,” Spoelstra said. “And that’s what we’ve been talking about, is leaning on our habits. We have great habits over the course of 70-plus games. We’ve taken a lot of pride trying to build a top-five defense. And we want it to show right now when it matters the most. And we were able to do that for the most part tonight.”
The Heat’s defense was especially dominant at the start, limiting the Cavaliers to just 19 points in the first quarter. Cleveland, which has the NBA’s sixth-best offensive rating this season, totaled just 46 points on 38.5 percent shooting from the field and 3 of 15 (20 percent) shooting on threes in the first half.
That defensive effort paired with a scorching 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) three-point shooting display in the first half allowed the Heat to pull ahead by as many as 21 points before entering halftime with a 17-point lead. Miami outscored Cleveland 39-9 from three-point range in the first half.
But the script flipped in the third quarter, as the Cavaliers got hot and the Heat went cold from behind the arc.
While the Cavaliers hit 7 of 11 threes in the third quarter, the Heat shot just 1 of 10 from three-point range in the period. As a result, Cleveland dominated the third quarter 37-20 to erase Miami’s 21-point lead and enter the fourth quarter with the game tied at 83-83.
The Cavaliers then took their first lead of the night on a Keon Ellis three-pointer to take an 86-85 lead with 11:25 left in the fourth quarter.
But the Heat’s defense again stiffened down the stretch to avoid a complete second-half collapse, limiting the Cavaliers to 20 points on 5 of 19 (26.3 percent) shooting from the field and 2 of 11 (18.2 percent) shooting on threes in the fourth quarter.
After the Cavaliers went ahead by two points with 9:30 to play, the Heat closed the game on a 32-13 run to regain control and earn a 17-point win.
“Games don’t always go according to plan, they rarely do,” Spoelstra said. “So you’re going to have to fight for it at some point. Did we like that third quarter? No, but the way we responded is the most important thing.”
Eight Heat players finished with double-digit points led by 19 points from Norman Powell. Tyler Herro added 18 points for the Heat.
Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 28 points for the Cavaliers. Jamed Harden contributed 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Cleveland.
“We have it in us to hold the line and not get sideways and let go of the rope,” Powell said. “So I thought we did a great job of holding that line, trusting one another, trusting the process, and gutting out the win.”
The Heat made a change to the starting lineup. Guard Pelle Larsson played as a reserve for the first time in more than two months, but still led the team in minutes on Wednesday.
The Heat opened Wednesday’s game with a starting lineup of Davion Mitchell, Herro, Powell, Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo.
While Wednesday marked the seventh game that this group started this season, it was the lineup’s first start since Jan. 13.
That’s because Larsson had become a Heat fixture in the Heat’s starting unit prior to being moved to the bench on Wednesday.
“This is what I was getting to in January,” Spoelstra said when asked about the thinking behind Wednesday’s tweak to the starting lineup. “… It’s go time right now, so we’re going to go with this.
“There really wasn’t a lot of thought to it. It’s just now we have finally everybody available. So we’re able to get to the normal plan. Sometimes you can’t necessarily get to what you want to do based on injuries.”
Larsson, who has made 48 starts this season, played as a reserve on Wednesday for the first time since Jan. 13. He continued to contribute positive minutes in his new role, recording 14 points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in a team-high 34:04.
“It felt like it had been a while,” Larsson said of playing off the bench for the first time in more than two months. “It felt a little different, but not really once I got in there. The other guys get a little head start on you. They’re a little bit warmer, but then my energy was higher than theirs when I got in because I had the rest. And then I could carry that throughout the whole second quarter.”
Larsson even played the entire fourth quarter, totaling nine points and five rebounds in the final period. With the help of recording a plus/minus of plus 17 in the fourth quarter, Larsson closed the win at plus 14.
“Pelle is undeniable, you can’t take him off the floor,” Spoelstra said. “… He led us in minutes tonight. The three loose balls that he had down the stretch, that’s Pelle Larson to a T. That defines him, ball on the floor, ball in the air. I just love the way he competes.”
As for the Heat’s starting lineup, the Mitchell-Herro-Powell-Wiggins-Adebayo combination entered Wednesday outscoring opponents by 4.5 points per 100 possessions in 98 minutes together this season.
That group again was a positive on Wednesday, outscoring the Cavaliers by three points in 14 minutes together.
But after a strong start, the Heat’s starting lineup was shaky to begin the third quarter. So while ending as a positive, the unit’s minutes were uneven.
Powell was moved into the starting lineup on Wednesday in Larsson’s place after playing off the bench in three of the previous four games he was available for. Powell, who was the Heat’s lone All-Star this season, started in his first 49 appearances of the season prior to this brief stint as a reserve.
Powell closed Wednesday’s start with a team-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 3-of-7 shooting on threes, four rebounds and two assists in 34 minutes.
Heat second-year center Kel’el Ware was a big bright spot for the Heat in the win.
The Heat used a bench rotation of Larsson, Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis.
Ware, who has had an up-and-down second NBA season, turned in an impressive performance on Wednesday.
Ware, 21, finished the win with 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 shooting on threes, 11 rebounds, four assists and one block in 20 minutes and posted a positive plus/minus for just the second time in the last six games. He closed as a season-best plus 32.
The Heat improved to an eye-opening 23-2 this season when Ware records a positive plus/minus.
Ware’s first shift for Adebayo was encouraging, as the Heat outscored the Cavaliers by 15 points to stretch a three-point lead into an 18 point advantage during a first-half stint that lasted 8:01.
But Ware’s best stretch of the night was in the second half, as he played the final 12:02 of the game. Nearly half of that time was spent alongside Adebayo, as the Heat closed the game with the double-big look for the final 6:42.
Ware totaled seven points, four rebounds, three assists and one block while posting a plus/minus of plus 17 during the final 12:02 of the game.
“Kel’el, down the stretch, was terrific,” Spoelstra said. “I really liked his response yesterday after a disappointing game as a team. His response yesterday, I met with him and had a productive film session, where he wanted to get better and he had a very good practice. And then it carried over today.
“It doesn’t guarantee that it will, but he was very good in that second half. Big, protecting the rim and rebounding, which is what we needed to do to finish off our defense.”
The available players who weren’t in the Heat’s rotation on Wednesday were Simone Fontecchio, Myron Gardner, Nikola Jovic, Dru Smith and Keshad Johnson.
The only unavailable Heat players were the three-way contract trio of Vlad Goldin, Trevor Keels and Jahmir Young, who are all in the G League. Also, Terry Rozier remains away from the team following his October arrest.
With Wednesday’s win, the Heat improved to 4-3 in the seven games that it has had its full standard roster available for this season (not including Rozier).
The Cavaliers were without Jarrett Allen (right knee tendonitis), Craig Porter Jr. (left groin strain), Olivier Sarr (G League), Max Strus (left foot injury management), Jaylon Tyson (left great toe bone bruise) and Dean Wade (right ankle sprain) against the Heat.
With the help of Ware’s positive minutes, the Heat survived an inefficient shooting night from Adebayo.
Adebayo has been playing his best basketball of the season recently, averaging 28.9 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and 1.8 steals per game over his previous 12 games.
But Adebayo missed most of his shots on Wednesday, finishing with 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting from the field and 1-of-9 shooting on threes in 33 minutes.
In the first half, Adebayo totaled just two points on 1-of-9 shooting from the field and 0-of-5 shooting on threes. But the Heat still entered halftime with a 17-point lead.
Adebayo found a rhythm in the second half, scoring 15 points in the final two quarters while being guarded by reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley.
“He can be mentally tough enough, that grit, just to stay the course and continue to work the game,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo pushing through after a rough first half. “And he was able to get some good drives there in the third, playing off the catch a little bit, and then playing physically at the rim.”
Adebayo also made life tough on Mobley, who finished Wednesday’s game with just eight points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field.
While still in play-in tournament territory, the Heat moved up the Eastern Conference standings.
Wednesday’s win moved the Heat from 10th place to eighth place in the East, moving past the idle Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets.
The Heat (39-34) is now one-half game ahead of the ninth-place Hornets (38-34) and 10th-place Magic (38-34).
The Heat is also one loss behind the seventh-place Philadelphia 76ers (40-33) and two losses behind the sixth-place Atlanta Hawks (41-32).
“There’s no room for error,” Spoelstra said. “And I know the competitors we have in our locker room. I know we’re all looking forward to each one of these challenges.”
The NBA’s play-in tournament features the seventh-through-10th-place teams competing for the final two playoff seeds in each conference.
The Heat, which has needed to qualify for the playoffs through the NBA’s play-in tournament in each of the last three seasons, needs to finish among the East’s top six teams to clinch a playoff spot and avoid the play-in tournament.
This story was originally published March 25, 2026 at 10:06 PM.
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Anthony Chiang
Miami Herald
Anthony Chiang covers the Miami Heat for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and was born and raised in Miami.
