NBA Matchups: April 28

CLE @ MIA | HOU @ GSW

Cleveland Cavaliers at Miami Heat

Team Totals: Cavs 109.5, Heat 100

Injury Report: Terry Rozier (O, ankle), Darius Garland (Q, great toe)

Heat projected starters: Davion Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jovic, Bam Adebayo (Note: Think Ware gets benched)

Cavs projected starters: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Spo quotes: Said they “laid an egg”, said the guys really want this despite how it may not seem like it with their 0-3 hole, said it was an “avalanche” and their discouragement “fed into that avalanche”, said the Cavs are really denying Herro and they have to adjust to how the Cavs are playing him, said they have to find a way to get Tyler/Bam/Wiggs in a better spot offensively, said Ware “is being fed through a fire hose” and “we are coaching him hard,” said Wiggins “is really important” to score because of how they are guarding Herro and Bam, said “it’s scheme on steroids in the playoffs.”

Atkinson quotes: Said they were trying to limit Herro’s touches, said they were able to keep their head above water because Miami was making a run, said this is why they traded for Hunter because he’s so switchable on defense and he’s so skilled on offense, said the Bam and Ware 3-pointers were bad luck but they didn’t get rattled, said he wanted Bam to be pressured from Mobley and Allen, said Wade made a big impact for defense and rebounding, said Wade in there for a switch-heavy scheme worked for them, said their depth is helpful when their main guys don’t have it going, said extra ball pressure on Bam is why their defense was so good, said Allen lets them top-lock Herro more because they’re not punished as much if they screw it up, said Strus has familiarity with the starters and he’s “the ultimate role player” with that group, said it’ll be important to have a “freshness advantage” and it’s important to win Game 4.

Stats and Notes:

*The Cavs put a beatdown on the Heat on Saturday thanks to just 80.3 points per 100 in the halfcourt from the Miami offense. They had nothing on the boards and they shot just 38.0% on their two-pointers. The floater-range shots killed them the most at 5-of-15, and that’s nothing new for a Cavs defense that has been excellent at taking away the rim. Plus, Miami just can’t play fast and they’re not getting much at the FT line for a playoff-low 9.4% of their points. This is just such an uphill battle with the Cavs having so many answers, especially if they take Tyler Herro out of the game again (more on that shortly). The Cavs just had so many easy baskets on Saturday. In the series, they’re getting so many great shots off their passes with a playoff-high 34.5% of their 3-pointers coming off an assist. They had 11 dunks and three layups off cuts for just a ridiculously easy offense. This is probably going to be a sweep.