Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro sets to take a shot as Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, left, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)
MIAMI — Tyler Herro scored 34 points, Duncan Robinson had 23 and the Miami Heat stayed hot by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 122-113 on Sunday night.
Jimmy Butler scored 18 and Bam Adebayo had 16 points, 13 rebounds and six assists for Miami. Terry Rozier added 14 for the Heat.
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Darius Garland scored 23 for Cleveland, which fell to 21-4 — still matching the best 25-game start in team history. Georges Niang scored 15 for the Cavs, who lost Evan Mobley in the first half to a sprained ankle.
READ: NBA: Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler help Heat hold off Suns
Tyler through the lane: TOUGH 😤
He’s up to 31 points with Q3 winding down pic.twitter.com/XgtUSDFNUD
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 9, 2024
Donovan Mitchell was held to 12 points on 5-of-16 shooting for Cleveland.
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Both teams shot exactly 41 for 86 — 47.7% — in the game.
Takeaways
Cavs: Cleveland is now 5-3 against the Southeast Division — and 16-1 against the rest of the NBA. The Cavs are 6-4 after their 15-0 start.
Heat: Miami has scored at least 121 points in each of its last three games, tying the longest such streak in franchise history — it was done twice previously. The Heat have won three consecutive games overall and four in a row at home, both season-bests.
READ: NBA: Tyler Herro, Heat use 3rd quarter surge to rout Lakers
Key moment
A huge possession for Miami during the closing push: Dru Smith — a 6-foot-2 reserve guard — got two offensive rebounds on the same trip, then got the ball back and made a 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Heat a 112-99 lead with 4:22 left.
Key stat
Herro’s two highest-scoring third quarters of his career were in a five-day span: 21 points against the Lakers on Wednesday and 19 points on Sunday.
Up next
The teams not in the NBA Cup knockout round get a few days off now. Cleveland hosts Washington on Friday and Miami hosts Toronto on Thursday.
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