Game ID: 42400104
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Miami Heat
Monday, April 28, 2025 at 7:30 PM ET
Kaseya Center, Miami, FL
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
MIA 17 16 30 20 83CLE 43 29 39 27 138
CLE @ MIA ScoutingCLE @ MIA Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
MIA availability going into 4/13 · 1 day's restOUT Jović missed 26 since 2/24, out tonight
OUT Larsson missed 2 since 4/09, out tonight
OUT Love missed 11 since 3/23, out tonight
BACK Wiggins back 4/09 after 6, 26 min since (81% of 32)
BACK Rozier back 4/05 after 2, 8 min since (32% of 26)
BACK Robinson back 4/03 after 5, 21 min since (89% of 24)
BACK Jaquez Jr. back 4/07 after 2, 14 min since (71% of 20)
NEW Ware 22 to 28 min over the last 5
NEW Anderson 18 to 25 min over the last 5
MIA availability going into 4/20 · 6 days' restOUT Jović missed 27 since 2/24, returns tonight: 1 min (6% of 25)
OUT Larsson missed 3 since 4/09, returns tonight: 1 min (10% of 14)
OUT Love missed 12 since 3/23, out tonight
BACK Wiggins back 4/09 after 6, 26 min since (81% of 32)
BACK Rozier back 4/05 after 2, 17 min since (66% of 26)
BACK Jaquez Jr. back 4/07 after 2, 23 min since (115% of 20)
NEW Anderson 18 to 26 min over the last 5
MIA availability going into 4/23 · 2 days' restOUT Love missed 13 since 3/23, out tonight
BACK Wiggins back 4/09 after 6, 30 min since (94% of 32)
BACK Rozier back 4/11 after 2, 23 min since (90% of 26)
BACK Jović back 4/20 after 27, 1 min since (6% of 25)
BACK Jaquez Jr. back 4/07 after 2, 18 min since (88% of 20)
BACK Larsson back 4/20 after 3, 1 min since (10% of 14)
MIA availability going into 4/26 · 2 days' restOUT Rozier missed 2 since 4/20, out tonight
OUT Love missed 14 since 3/23, out tonight
BACK Wiggins back 4/09 after 6, 30 min since (93% of 32)
BACK Jović back 4/20 after 27, 13 min since (53% of 25)
BACK Larsson back 4/20 after 3, 6 min since (42% of 14)
MIA availability going into 4/28 · 1 day's restOUT Rozier missed 3 since 4/20, out tonight
OUT Anderson missed 2 since 4/23, returns tonight: 8 min (44% of 18)
OUT Burks missed 2 since 4/23, out tonight
OUT Love missed 15 since 3/23, out tonight
BACK Jović back 4/20 after 27, 15 min since (62% of 25)
BACK Larsson back 4/20 after 3, 10 min since (68% of 14)
CLE availability going into 4/13 · 1 day's restOUT Mitchell missed 3 since 4/08, out tonight
OUT Tomlin missed 5 since 4/04, returns tonight: 47 min (369% of 13)
BACK Wade back 4/06 after 2, 20 min since (98% of 20)
BACK Jerome back 4/06 after 5, 23 min since (117% of 20)
CLE availability going into 4/20 · 6 days' restOUT Mitchell missed 4 since 4/08, returns tonight: 33 min (106% of 32)
OUT Hunter missed 2 since 4/11, returns tonight: 16 min (65% of 25)
OUT Jerome missed 2 since 4/11, returns tonight: 26 min (132% of 20)
OUT Merrill missed 2 since 4/11, returns tonight: 24 min (121% of 20)
BACK Wade back 4/06 after 2, 20 min since (98% of 20)
BACK Tomlin back 4/13 after 5, 47 min since (369% of 13)
NEW Okoro 18 to 24 min over the last 4
CLE availability going into 4/23 · 2 days' restBACK Mitchell back 4/20 after 4, 33 min since (106% of 32)
BACK Hunter back 4/20 after 2, 16 min since (65% of 25)
BACK Jerome back 4/20 after 2, 26 min since (132% of 20)
BACK Merrill back 4/20 after 2, 24 min since (121% of 20)
BACK Tomlin back 4/13 after 5, 47 min since (369% of 13)
CLE availability going into 4/26 · 2 days' restBACK Mitchell back 4/20 after 4, 34 min since (109% of 32)
BACK Hunter back 4/20 after 2, 20 min since (80% of 25)
BACK Jerome back 4/20 after 2, 25 min since (124% of 20)
BACK Merrill back 4/20 after 2, 22 min since (110% of 20)
BACK Tomlin back 4/13 after 5, 47 min since (369% of 13)
CLE availability going into 4/28 · 1 day's restBACK Mitchell back 4/20 after 4, 33 min since (105% of 32)
BACK Hunter back 4/20 after 2, 23 min since (92% of 25)
BACK Jerome back 4/20 after 2, 24 min since (119% of 20)
BACK Merrill back 4/20 after 2, 21 min since (106% of 20)
BACK Tomlin back 4/13 after 5, 47 min since (369% of 13)
CLE availability going into 5/04 · 5 days' restOUT Garland missed 2 since 4/26, out tonight
BACK Mitchell back 4/20 after 4, 31 min since (98% of 32)
BACK Hunter back 4/20 after 2, 22 min since (90% of 25)
BACK Jerome back 4/20 after 2, 23 min since (115% of 20)
BACK Merrill back 4/20 after 2, 20 min since (103% of 20)
BACK Tomlin back 4/13 after 5, 47 min since (369% of 13)
CLE availability going into 5/06 · 1 day's restOUT Garland missed 3 since 4/26, out tonight
BACK Mitchell back 4/20 after 4, 31 min since (100% of 32)
BACK Hunter back 4/20 after 2, 24 min since (97% of 25)
BACK Jerome back 4/20 after 2, 24 min since (121% of 20)
BACK Merrill back 4/20 after 2, 20 min since (101% of 20)
CLE availability going into 5/09 · 2 days' restOUT Garland missed 4 since 4/26, returns tonight: 25 min (81% of 31)
CLE availability going into 5/11 · 1 day's restBACK Garland back 5/09 after 4, 25 min since (81% of 31)
NEW Strus 26 to 31 min over the last 5
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Miami comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 118, shooting 50 percent and 40 from three, 14 free throws a game; Herro at 22 and Adebayo at 20 a game. That is 4 straight losses. Without Rozier (3 straight), Burks (2 straight), Anderson (2 straight). One day's rest. Cleveland comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 118 a night and allowing 105, shooting 47 percent and 38 from three, 22 free throws a game; Garland at 25 and Mitchell at 24 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has won the glass by 7 a night. One day's rest.
So: Cleveland wins, on the road, and the game turns on the defense, Cleveland allowing 105 a night to Miami's 118 and the glass, where Cleveland has been plus-7 a night and Miami plus-1. Call it Cleveland 116, Miami 112, Miami keeping it close.
4/13 vs WAS 118-119 — MIA notes
MIA lost 118-119. MIA took 8 more shots (98 to 90), but shot 50% to WAS's 51%, 10 of 32 from three. Jaquez Jr. led with 41 (17 of 25, 2 of 6 from three, 5 of 7 at the line); Christopher added 17, Johnson 17. Q4 was theirs, 32-25, the deficit cut from 8 to 1, but the other 3 periods went 94-86 against them. Jaquez Jr.'s -4 in 41 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/20 @ CLE 100-121 — MIA notes
MIA lost 100-121. MIA shot 49% (39 of 80) to CLE's 51%, 13 of 31 from three. MIA turned it over 14 times to CLE's 7, and CLE turned those into 8 steals. Adebayo led with 24 (10 of 22, 1 of 5 from three, 3 of 6 at the line); Herro added 21, D. Mitchell 18. Q3 was theirs, 25-25, but the other 3 periods went 96-75 against them. Wiggins's -22 in 38 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/23 @ CLE 112-121 — MIA notes
MIA lost 112-121. MIA shot 52% (42 of 81) to CLE's 48%, 16 of 45 from three, and got to the line 16 times to CLE's 23. MIA turned it over 13 times to CLE's 8, and CLE turned those into 10 steals. Herro led with 33 (14 of 24, 4 of 11 from three); D. Mitchell added 18, Highsmith 17. Q3 was theirs, 29-25, the deficit cut from 17 to 13, but the other 3 periods went 96-83 against them. Robinson's -17 in 12 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/26 vs CLE 87-124 — MIA notes
MIA lost 87-124. MIA shot 42% (32 of 76) to CLE's 53%, 16 of 34 from three, and got to the line 10 times to CLE's 20. MIA turned it over 16 times to CLE's 9. The glass went 29-46 against them. Adebayo led with 22 (9 of 20, 4 of 7 from three); D. Mitchell added 16, Herro 13. Q3 was theirs, 22-26, but the other 3 periods went 98-65 against them. Adebayo's -28 in 40 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/28 vs CLE 83-138 — MIA notes
MIA lost 83-138. MIA shot 36% (32 of 89) to CLE's 55%, 10 of 49 from three, and got to the line 15 times to CLE's 25. MIA turned it over 19 times to CLE's 11, and CLE turned those into 15 steals. Jović led with 24 (8 of 15, 4 of 9 from three); Adebayo added 13, Larsson 12. Q4 was theirs, 20-27, but the other 3 periods went 111-63 against them. Herro's -44 in 31 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/13 vs IND 118-126 — CLE notes
CLE lost 118-126 in 2 overtimes. CLE shot 38% (44 of 115) to IND's 40%, 18 of 60 from three. CLE turned it over 21 times to IND's 13, and IND turned those into 15 steals. Tyson led with 31 (12 of 25, 4 of 12 from three); Bates added 25, Tomlin 24. Q2 was theirs, 29-18, but the other 5 periods went 108-89 against them. They led by as many as 27. Thompson's -25 in 43 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/20 vs MIA 121-100 — CLE notes
CLE won 121-100. CLE shot 51% (45 of 88) to MIA's 49%, 18 of 43 from three. CLE turned it over 7 times to MIA's 14. Mitchell led with 30 (11 of 19, 2 of 9 from three, 6 of 7 at the line); Jerome added 28, Garland 27. The hinge was Q4, 34-21: a lead of 8 became 21. Strus was the night's best plus/minus at +18.
4/23 vs MIA 121-112 — CLE notes
CLE won 121-112. CLE shot 48% (39 of 82) to MIA's 52%, 22 of 45 from three, and went to the line 23 times to MIA's 16 — 21 points from the stripe to their 12. CLE turned it over 8 times to MIA's 13. Mitchell led with 30 (10 of 21, 7 of 10 from three); Garland added 21, Mobley 20. The hinge was Q2, 43-27: a lead of 1 became 17. Hunter was the night's best plus/minus at +12.
4/26 @ MIA 124-87 — CLE notes
CLE won 124-87. CLE shot 53% (46 of 86) to MIA's 42%, 15 of 40 from three, and went to the line 20 times to MIA's 10 — 17 points from the stripe to their 7. CLE turned it over 9 times to MIA's 16. The glass went 46-29 for them. Allen led with 22 (8 of 9, 6 of 6 at the line); Hunter added 21, Mobley 19. The hinge was Q1, 33-20: from level to 13 ahead, and the lead reached 40. Hunter was the night's best plus/minus at +34.
4/28 @ MIA 138-83 — CLE notes
CLE won 138-83. CLE shot 55% (47 of 86) to MIA's 36%, 22 of 47 from three, and went to the line 25 times to MIA's 15 — 22 points from the stripe to their 9. CLE turned it over 11 times to MIA's 19. D. Mitchell led with 22 (8 of 15, 4 of 8 from three); Hunter added 19, Jerome 18. The hinge was Q1, 43-17: from level to 26 ahead, and the lead reached 60. Allen was the night's best plus/minus at +42.
5/04 vs IND — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Cleveland comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 124 a night and allowing 102, shooting 48 percent and 40 from three, 21 free throws a game; Mitchell at 24 and Jerome at 16 a game. That is 4 straight wins. It has won the glass by 6 a night. Without Garland (2 straight). 5 days' rest. Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 118 a night and allowing 110, shooting 50 percent and 39 from three, 20 free throws a game; Siakam at 20 and Haliburton at 18 a game. Without Isa. Jackson (81 straight). 4 days' rest.
So: Cleveland wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Cleveland has been plus-6 a night and Indiana minus-2 and the defense, Cleveland allowing 102 a night to Indiana's 110. Call it Cleveland 119, Indiana 111.
5/06 vs IND — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Cleveland comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 123 a night and allowing 101, shooting 50 percent and 40 from three, 20 free throws a game; Mitchell at 26 and Jerome at 17 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. Without Garland (3 straight). One day's rest. Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 113, shooting 50 percent and 42 from three, 18 free throws a game; Haliburton at 20 and Siakam at 18 a game. That is 3 straight wins. Without Isa. Jackson (82 straight). One day's rest.
So: Cleveland wins, and the game turns on the defense, Cleveland allowing 101 a night to Indiana's 113 and the glass, where Cleveland has been plus-5 a night and Indiana minus-3. Call it Cleveland 120, Indiana 110, Cleveland by 10.
5/09 @ IND — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 118 a night and allowing 114, shooting 51 percent and 41 from three, 20 free throws a game; Haliburton at 20 and Nesmith at 18 a game. That is 4 straight wins. Without Isa. Jackson (83 straight). 2 days' rest. Cleveland comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 123 a night and allowing 105, shooting 49 percent and 38 from three, 24 free throws a game; Mitchell at 29 and Mobley at 19 a game. Without Garland (4 straight). 2 days' rest.
So: Cleveland wins, on the road, and the game turns on the defense, Cleveland allowing 105 a night to Indiana's 114 and the turnovers, Indiana giving it away 14 times a game to Cleveland's 10. Call it Cleveland 117, Indiana 114, Indiana keeping it close.
5/11 @ IND — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 116, shooting 51 percent and 42 from three, 24 free throws a game; Turner at 19 and Haliburton at 18 a game. Without Isa. Jackson (84 straight). One day's rest. Cleveland comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 124 a night and allowing 103, shooting 48 percent and 34 from three, 27 free throws a game; Mitchell at 32 and Mobley at 18 a game. It has won the glass by 8 a night. One day's rest.
So: Cleveland wins, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where Cleveland has been plus-8 a night and Indiana minus-4 and the defense, Cleveland allowing 103 a night to Indiana's 116. Call it Cleveland 118, Indiana 114, Indiana keeping it close.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
MIAAW A. Wiggins
BA B. Adebayo
DM D. Mitchell
DR D. Robinson
HH H. Highsmith
JJ J. Jaquez Jr.
JO Jovic
KA K. Anderson
KJ K. Johnson
KW K. Ware
NJ N. Jović
PL P. Larsson
TH T. Herro
CLECO C. Okeke
CP C. Porter Jr.
DH D. Hunter
DW D. Wade
EM E. Mobley
IO I. Okoro
JA J. Allen
JG J. Green
JT J. Tyson
MS M. Strus
SM S. Merrill
TJ T. Jerome
TT T. Thompson
MIA/CLE the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Cavs win by 55 points to sweep Heat and finish off most lopsided series in NBA playoff history
MIAMI -- — Cleveland moved into Round 2 with the most lopsided series win in NBA playoff history.
Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points, De’Andre Hunter added 19 and the Cavaliers led by as many as 60 points before beating the Miami Heat 138-83 on Monday night to sweep their Eastern Conference first-round series in four games.
Ty Jerome had 18 points, Evan Mobley added 17 and Jarrett Allen had 14 points, 12 rebounds and six steals for the Cavaliers. Cleveland won the series by a combined 122 points, one more than the previous record for series margin set by Denver over New Orleans in 2009.
“We came out here with a goal in mind," Mitchell said.
The 55-point margin in Game 4 was the fourth-biggest playoff win ever. The record is 58 points, done twice: Minneapolis over St. Louis in 1956 and Denver over New Orleans in 2009. The Los Angeles Lakers beat Golden State by 56 points in 1973.
Nikola Jovic led the Heat with 24 points. Ban Adebayo scored 13, while Pelle Larsson and Andrew Wiggins each added 12 for Miami.
“Damn, it was humbling. This series was humbling. These last two games were embarrassing,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But Cleveland's also a very good team. ... They showed us why we weren't ready for that.”
Cleveland will play either Indiana or Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Pacers lead that series 3-1; regardless of whether the Pacers or Bucks advance, Game 1 of that series would be in Cleveland and not played until Saturday at the earliest.
“I'm always a big fan of rest,” Mitchell said.
This is the third instance of Miami being swept in a best-of-seven series. The others: against Chicago in 2007 and against Milwaukee in 2021, both of those in the first round and both also ending on the Heat home floor.
It was over fast. Cleveland — which used a 33-5 early run to blow Game 3 open — led 43-14 late in the first quarter before Davion Mitchell beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer. The 26-point margin matched the worst quarter in Heat playoff history; it was the second-best margin for any quarter in Cavs playoff history.
And the lead only kept growing.
It looked every bit like a 64-win team that led the East wire-to-wire going up against a 10th-place finisher that needed to win two play-in games just to get into the tournament.
“We came down here with the right mentality and again, our maturity, our leadership, all that stuff we've been talking about all year,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. “We don't seem to have letdowns. That's rare.”
Cleveland’s lead was 39 — 72-33 — at the half, the third-largest lead after two quarters in NBA playoff history. The only halftime leads bigger than that: Cleveland by 41 over Boston on May 19, 2017 and Detroit by 40 over Washington on April 26, 1987.