CLEVELAND, Ohio — Playoff Spida arrived just in time.
Behind star guard Donovan Mitchell’s late-game flurry, the top-seeded Cavs avoided a fourth-quarter collapse in Game 2 of their first-round matchup with the eighth-seeded Miami Heat, sneaking out of Rocket Arena with a 121-112 win and 2-0 series lead.
Teams with home-court advantage who go up 2-0 in the first round are 94-5.
It wouldn’t have been possible without Mitchell’s fourth-quarter heroics.
“No one said it was going to be easy,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson explained after the win. “This is not your 10 seed. Knew it was going to be a dog fight. We talked about it the last two days, keeping our composure when they hit us. So proud of the guys for how they finished it. Obviously, helps when you’ve got Donovan Mitchell. One of those superstar-takes-over-a-game situations.”
Miami started surging. Angst filled the arena. The lights brightened. And then Mitchell took over.
He calmly went shot-for-shot with the prideful and battle-tested Heat down the stretch, scoring 10 of Cleveland’s 12 points at a time when it seemed like a sure-fire win was slipping out of its grasp.
Mitchell has taken a slight step back this season, wanting to elevate and empower his teammates.
But this is still his team. His building. His city. His stage.
Mitchell finished with a team-high 30 points, including 17 in a showstopping fourth quarter, to go with six rebounds and six assists in 36 minutes.
“This is what I do,” Mitchell told cleveland.com. “We let our offense affect our defense and got a little stagnant. But we responded when we needed to and closed the game out. In the fourth, it was like, ‘Alright, it’s a two-point game, find a way, let me try to make this push.’
“It’s my job.”
Teammate Darius Garland added 21 points and nine assists. Evan Mobley chipped in with 20 points and six rebounds.
Miami was led by Tyler Herro, who finished with game-best 33 points on 14 of 24 from the field and 4 of 11 from 3-point range.
The Heat, looking overmatched throughout Game 1, played with a sense of desperation and urgency from the jump. They increased the defensive intensity. They made some tactical adjustments. Changed the starting lineup. Tweaked the rotation.
It seemed all for naught.
Even though Miami led by nine around the midway point of the first quarter — its biggest lead of the series — and was ahead for 10 of the 12 first-quarter minutes, it trailed after one.
An ominous sign.
Then came the signature Cavs flurry.
Opening the second quarter on a spirited 14-6 surge while scoring on their first five possessions, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra angrily called timeout as the arena roared to a deafening decibel level.
The first playoff Cavalanche — complete with artificial snow dropping from the rafters and into the Loudville section while the game-night crew bounced onto the floor during the stoppage wearing ski goggles.
That run increased to 25-10 over the first six minutes of the quarter, as the surgical Cavaliers scored on nine of their first 11 second-quarter possessions.
The Cavs outscored Miami 43-27 in that turnaround second quarter. They went 15 of 23 from the field and 11 of 16 from 3-point range during those dominant 12 minutes.
The 11 triples are the most by any team in any postseason quarter in the play-by-play era (1997-98).
In a season of historic feats, just add another.
“Beautiful,” Atkinson said when asked to describe that quarter. “We’ve had a lot of moments like that this year because we have highly skilled players that can shoot. We’re a tough guard but it was fun for the crowd.”
Cleveland was up by 17 at halftime. It reached a game-high 19 at one point and remained double digits for nearly the duration of the game — until Miami mounted a furious comeback. It even pulled within two at the 4:25 mark of the fourth quarter.
Tension. Pressure. Anxiety.
That’s what playoff basketball is all about. Mitchell and the Cavs met the moment.
Despite the gutsy push, the Heat never went ahead, with Mitchell’s clutch jumpers keeping them at bay. He made six of the team’s seven fourth-quarter shots.
In his own words, that’s why he’s here.
“That’s why he’s Donovan Mitchell,” Mobley said. “Great leader right there. Made timely buckets and really carried us to that win in that fourth quarter.”
Following the regular season finale, the Cavs handed out small trophies to each individual player — a lighthearted moment that encapsulated a culture of joy.
Mitchell’s read “Most Likely to Be a Superhero” — a playful homage to his Spida Man nickname. The award sits in his locker.
He turned into one Wednesday night.
Mitchell summoned all of his superpowers, saving the Cavs from a playoff disaster.
Up next
The Cavs will travel to Miami for the next two games. The first is set for Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
