By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Miami Heat just scored its most dominant win of the NBA regular season so far after annihilating the Cleveland Cavaliers, 121-84, on March 25, 2024.
Miami finished the lopsided victory with a 37-point lead, its biggest winning margin of the season so far. The Heat topped their previous 33-point win record, still against the Cavaliers last November 23, 2023.
It was a flawless performance from the Heat as they won all four quarters against Cleveland and ballooned its biggest lead of the game to 45 points.
Everything just went clicking for the Heat as their starters and bench mob delivered in many ways, scoring the leather without any fluke while also locking down the Cleveland perimeter from start to finish.
Aside from their whooping 43/83 (51%) team shooting from the field, the Heat also outrebounded the Cavaliers, 44-30, and out assisted them, 29-24.
Perhaps the biggest key to Miami’s stellar win was their defensive effort on the Cavaliers, tallying a total of 13 steals which resulted in 35 points off turnovers.
Miami immediately dropped the hammer on Cleveland in the first quarter after they established a 10-point lead while further pushing its cushion to 21 points heading into the second half.
The Miami clinic didn’t end in the last two quarters as they proved they still had enough gas left in the tank, building a 12-point lead at the end of the third while wrapping the final canto with a four-point advantage.
It was a balanced scoring effort for the Heat as seven of their players reached the double-digit scoring mark led by Haywood Highsmith who dropped 18 points built from an efficient 7/10 shooting from the field.
The two-player was electric from the three-point territory and finished the game with a perfect 4/4 shooting from downtown.
Bam Adebayo was also a force for the Heat as the All-Star center had a double-double performance of 15 points, 16 rebounds, five steals, and three assists.
Jimmy Butler equalized Adebayo’s scoring output and stuffed the stat sheets with six assists, three rebounds, and a steal.
The Heat will look to sustain its dominant form on March 27, 2024, as they go up against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
