Cleveland Cavaliers dominate Miami Heat and are already in the second round

With a 39-point advantage at halftime in an elimination game, Donovan Mitchell sent a clear message to his teammates in the locker room: "We had to finish our breakfast." The statement from the Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard was as forceful as the thrashing his team delivered to the Miami Heat to assertively close out the first-round series in the Eastern Conference.

Cleveland dominated the fourth game from start to finish, winning 138-83 and completing a 4-0 sweep with an unprecedented offensive and defensive display. In a game where they led by 60 points and ended up winning by 55, the Cavaliers secured the largest victory in a series-ending game in NBA playoffs history. Additionally, the 92-point difference between games 3 and 4 represents the biggest margin in a two-game postseason series, and the total 122-point difference also sets a record in a four-game series.

"I hope this served as a lesson for the players to grow, but, man, it was a lesson in humility," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra after experiencing the worst defeat of his career in 17 seasons leading the team.

The Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers played without All-Star point guard Darius Garland for the second consecutive game due to a toe sprain, yet they showcased formidable depth: six players scored in double digits for the second straight game, ten hit at least one three-pointer, and seven did so on at least two occasions. Cleveland finished the series with 22 more triples than Miami, highlighting a vast difference in efficiency.

The team also had extra motivations: they aimed to avoid the fatigue they experienced last season when, after going up 2-0 against Orlando, they lost the next two games in Florida and ended up playing an exhausting seven-game series, which hindered them against Boston in the next round. This time, the goal was clear: finish as soon as possible to rest, while Indiana leads 3-1 against Milwaukee in their matchup.

Mitchell, who scored 22 points, highlighted the group's maturity. "Last year, we only won one playoff game as visitors. Since I've been here, we had only won one away from home until this season. We didn't settle at 3-0; this was a test for ourselves," he explained.

For Miami, it was the end of a disastrous week. Tyler Herro, a constant target of Cleveland's defensive strategy, particularly struggled in the two home games, where he was consistently denied the ball. Herro, who had expressed missing Jimmy Butler before the third game—who left the team after forcing a trade to Golden State—had a forgetful performance in the fourth game: 1 for 10 shooting and a -44 on the court before being benched by Spoelstra in the third quarter. "There are no excuses. It's embarrassing," the shooting guard admitted.

The most emotional moment of the night came before the game when center Tristan Thompson embraced his former teammate Kevin Love in a long hug. Love's father, Stan Love, recently passed away at the age of 76 after a long illness. Love, absent from the team in recent weeks, was Thompson's teammate for six years and part of the championship team in 2016. "I told him that he now has a guardian angel looking after him. He'll always be my brother, and I just wanted to be there to support him," expressed Thompson, whose mother passed away suddenly two years ago.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Cleveland Cavaliers arrasa a Miami Heat y ya está en segunda ronda