Late defense delivers Cavaliers 12th straight win

CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers have possessed the league's most potent offense almost all season. However, it was their defense that came to the rescue Wednesday in their hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat at Rocket Arena. Cleveland, 45-0 this season when tied or leading after three quarters, closed the game with six consecutive defensive stops to snuff the life out of the upset-minded Heat. "That's the staple of our team," Cavs swingman Max Strus said. "We need to rely on that more. We have the Defensive Player of the Year on this team (Evan Mobley). We have to rally around that." Cleveland captured its 12th victory in a row and improved to a league-best 52-10 on the season. It has ripped off 16 wins in its last 17 games. Short-handed Miami dropped to 29-32. The Cavs survived three crucial turnovers in the final 1:59. The last occurred with 18.4 seconds left when All-Star Donovan Mitchell dribbled out of bounds with his team clinging to a 110-107 advantage. On the Heat's next possession, forward Duncan Robinson stepped out of bounds a second before he buried a 3-pointer with 17.4 seconds left. Instead of tying the score, Miami never recovered. "Everything has gone our way this year," Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. "There's got to be some luck involved. We've had some good fortune." Cavs guard Darius Garland followed with two free throws for a five-point advantage with 12.7 seconds remaining. Cleveland closed the game on a 19-7 run in the last 6:11. The Heat, playing without leading scorer Tyler Herro, forward Andrew Wiggins and center Kel'el Ware, caused problems with its zone defense. "My college coach used to say, 'Zone is a talent equalizer,'" Atkinson said. "You have to find the holes. (De'Andre Hunter) was huge tonight against the zone." Hunter finished with 16 points, six in the fourth quarter. His biggest basket came with 1:10 remaining for a 110-107 lead. It came on a perfect pocket pass from Garland for a floater in the lane. "That was the play of the game for me," Atkinson said. "He's such a talented passer." Hunter said he's faced Miami's vaunted zone before. "The only place to score is in the middle," he said. "I tried to exploit that." When the Heat went small late in the game, Atkinson was forced to take center Jarrett Allen off the court in favor of the versatile Hunter. "It showed he trusted me," Hunter said. "I tried to make up for what he can't do on the perimeter. I was billed as a defender." The Cavs led 86-82 heading into the fourth quarter. Mitchell paced Cleveland with 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists but had five turnovers. Mobley added 16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Garland had 15 points and a game-high 10 assists. Cleveland built an impressive 17-point lead in the second quarter, then seemed to doze off. The Heat closed the first half on a staggering 15-3 run to pull within 63-59 at halftime. Despite continuing to win, the Cavs haven't been playing their best basketball. "There's been a little dip," Atkinson said. "We were not at our typical level. We fed off the crowd a little bit." Heat forward Bam Adebayo led all scorers with a season-high 34 points, adding 12 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Strus had 11 points for the Cavs, including two huge 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Guard Ty Jerome came off the bench for 12 points and five rebounds. Going Green Newly acquired swingman Javonte Green had his best game as a Cavs player Tuesday in Chicago with 11 points and six rebounds in 17 minutes. He went 2-for-3 from the 3-point line. "He has a sneaky feel for the game," Atkinson said. "He had two great dish-off passes to J.A. (Jarrett Allen). I don't think we win that game without him." The coach commended Cleveland's front office for signing Green after he was bought out of his contract in New Orleans. Doing background check Before the Cavs made the deal with Atlanta for Hunter, Atkinson did his homework. "I called Tony Bennett before the trade," he said of the former Virginia coach. "He doesn't B.S. you. Everything he said was true." Atkinson said he'd give Hunter an A-plus grade thus far in his time with Cleveland, which is 9-0 with the forward on the roster. Playing out of hole In the previous three games, the Cavs had fallen behind by 22, 18 and 15 points only to come back and win. "It's only three games, so let's not overreact," Atkinson said. "If you have a bad start in the playoffs, it could lose you a game. If you have poor starts, then you're chasing it. You'll expend a lot of energy and pay for that (down the road in the series)." Bob Finnan can be reached at rfinnan30@gmail.com. Follow him @BobCavsinsider on X.