CLEVELAND, Ohio — About an hour before tipoff, a small group of Cavs players were sitting inside the locker room scrolling through their phones — a usual pregame occurrence — when one of them pulled up the final score of the Oklahoma City-Memphis series opener (131-80).
“They set the tone. They sent a message,” he said. “We need to do the same tonight. Show them why we are the No. 1 seed.”
Cleveland did, beating eighth-seeded Miami, 121-100, in the first-round series opener Sunday night at Rocket Arena. The Cavs lead the best-of-seven, 1-0.
Rally towels waved furiously. A raucous sellout crowd was mostly clad in white. This is the time of year the Cavaliers — and fans — have been waiting for. It’s been 12 long months since a postseason exit at the hands of the eventual champion Boston Celtics. This is their chance to show how far they’ve come and why this postseason run will be different — perhaps even extending into June.
The 64-win Cavs, who earned the top seed with the second-best regular season in franchise history, made the first basket of the night — a right-wing Max Strus 3-pointer that caused an already-buzzing building to roar. They led by nine less than three minutes into the game and trailed for just 35 seconds in the first quarter — the only stretch Miami was ahead all night.
Near wire-to-wire dominance — a carryover from the regular season.
MVP candidate Donovan Mitchell finished with a game-high 30 points to go with five rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes. As Mitchell checked out of the game with a little more than a minute remaining, he was serenaded with cheers while waving to the crowd.
Then came a chant.
Cavs in 4! Cavs in 4! Cavs in 4!
Steady reserve Ty Jerome, one of the Sixth Man of the Year finalists who missed all but two games last season because of an injury that sent him into a dark place mentally, shined in his playoff debut.
Jerome poured in 28 points, the third-most of his career, on 10 of 15 from the field and 5 of 8 from 3-point range. Jerome tallied 16 of those points during a scintillating fourth quarter, causing chants of “Ty Je-rome, Ty Je-rome” that echoed throughout the arena.
All-Star point guard Darius Garland added 27 points and five assists.
The Cavs, with the league’s top-ranked offense, shot 51.1% overall and 41.9% from beyond the arc.
The Heat were led by Bam Adebayo who finished with 24 points. Tyler Herro had 21.
In the days leading up to Sunday’s series opener, Cleveland repeatedly spoke about playing with physicality, throwing the first punch and staying true to the team they were all season.
The Cavs led by a game-high 21 at one point. The Heat only got as close as six in the second half. Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson was able to empty his bench with a little more than a minute left.
That qualifies.
Up next
The Cavs will host the Heat for Game 2 on Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
