Fresh off snapping a five-game losing skid, the Cleveland Cavaliers continue a four-game homestand on Sunday when they welcome the visiting Miami Heat.
Miami continues a four-game road trip with Sunday’s contest, coming in having dropped its first two decisions at Toronto and Washington.
Friday’s 107-106 overtime loss against the Wizards exposed the Heat’s struggles with depth. Just seven players dressed, six of whom logged more than 30 minutes.
As Friday’s contest wore on, the Miami offense sputtered with a pair of second-half quarters scoring fewer than 20 points, followed by only two points in overtime.
Kyle Lowry recorded a triple-double with 24 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds, while Max Strus added 22 points — but shot just 3-of-14 from beyond the 3-point arc.
The last of Strus’ misses came out of a timeout on the game’s final possession.
Miami faces Cleveland still facing numerous roster questions. Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, both of whom sat on Friday, are listed as day-to-day with knee injuries.
Butler leads the Heat at 20.9 points per game, while Adebayo is averaging 19.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Tyler Herro, averaging 19.6 points and 2.4 made 3-pointers a contest, missed the Washington game with an ankle injury.
Duncan Robinson, Dewayne Dedmon and Gabe Vincent are also all listed as day-to-day.
Cleveland, meanwhile, opened its four-game homestand on Friday with a 132-122, double-overtime defeat of Charlotte. The win was the Cavaliers’ first since Nov. 6 when they concluded an eight-game winning streak.
The Hornets very nearly extended Cleveland’s losing skid, rallying from a 16-point second-half deficit to force extra frames.
Garland’s 41 points came less than a week after he finished with 51 points in a Nov. 13 loss to Minnesota. The 51-point outpouring set the NBA’s single-game scoring-high — for about an hour, anyway. Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid scored 59 points the same night.
Donovan Mitchell added 34 points in the win on Friday. Mitchell is one of just five players in the league averaging north of 31 points per game with at least 11 games played.
While the backcourt duo paced the offense, Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff praised the total-team effort — particularly in the overtimes.
