Coming into Game 2, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra made the necessary lineup changes after a Game 1 blowout loss Sunday night to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The three key decisions were inserting Davion Mitchell into the starting lineup, as well as playing Nikola Jovic and Pelle Larsson, all of whom provided a spark.
It seemed as if Spoelstra's adjustments didn't matter as Miami was down by as many as 19 at one point. But the Heat managed to rally back and cut the lead down to two in the fourth. Unfortunately, a 17-point explosion from Donovan Mitchell in the final quarter held off the Heat's comeback.
They lost 121-112 Wednesday night at Rocket Arena and now trail 2-0 in the series.
It was great to see the Heat show fight after the Cavaliers blitzed them with 11 threes made in the second quarter which set a record for threes made in a quarter since 97-98.
PLAYOFF HISTORY FOR THE CAVS ‼️
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2025
This Spida 3 gives them 11 in the 2nd quarter...
That's the MOST by any team in any postseason quarter in the play-by-play era (1997-98) 🤯 pic.twitter.com/X6NJCNv5AX
Many will look at the game and say that the Cavaliers will not shoot that well again. Although that can be true, I look at this in a bigger picture from Miami and how much it will take for them to stay competitive in this series.
The margin for error is next to none.
Going into the series, it's very safe to say that the talent gap of both teams is pretty significant given that the Cavaliers won nearly more than 30 games in the regular season compared to Miami. That makes the Heat's errors more amplified than ever, with every turnover and bad offensive possession that leads to runouts burying them even further.
In the second quarter where the Heat went into the locker room down 17, a lot of Miami's offensive possessions ended in contested jump shots with the shot clock winding down. Coupled with the Cavaliers putting on one of the best shooting displays ever, Miami had to now dig themselves out of a hole that seemed impossible.
If the Heat want any chance of competing in this series, they cannot afford to have lapses that put them in a double-digit deficit against a juggernaut on both sides of the ball. The story of the series has been the Heat having a quarter where they get thoroughly outplayed, and it ultimately costs them the game.
On top of that, Miami cannot afford a bad performance from two of Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Andrew Wiggins. Herro had his struggles in Game 1 but was much better in Game 2. Meanwhile, Adebayo and Wiggins combined for 21 points on 6 of 19 shooting -- not good enough.
It's tough for the Heat to play near-perfect basketball against the best team in the Eastern Conference, but the truth is that's what the Heat need to do if they want to earn victories in this series. The Heat will have a chance to get back in the series Saturday afternoon, when the Heat host Game 3 at Kaseya Center.
