Takeaways From The Miami Heat’s Victory Friday Against Cleveland Cavaliers

Jimmy Butler ices the game with a pair of late free throws

The Miami Heat recovered from a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday and evened the season series 2-2 with a victory.

But it was another close one that came down to a missed free throw from Donovan Mitchell and two made from Jimmy Butler. Here are some major takeaways from the game:

-Jimmy Butler finished with 33 points but scored 23 of them in the second half. When it came down to the last 20 seconds, he knew what to do. He hit a pullup shot to put the Heat in good position and fouled Mitchell at the right time.

-The Heat finished with 14 3-pointers. Tyler Herro and Max Strus combined to hit 9 of 14 from the arc. Herro finished with 25 points while Strus scored 14, including some key buckets in the second-half comeback. 

-Donovan Mitchell finished with 42 points, with many of his looks being uncontested. Aside from 8 3-pointers, Mitchell has much success off the dribble. He had 14 points in the paint. 

-The Heat had to rally back from a 14-point deficit, the sixth time this season they recovered from such a deficit and won.

-There hasn’t been any changes in the Heat’s playoff position but the Cavaliers have now fallen three and a half games behind the Philadelphia 76ers.

Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson. You can also check out his personal blog HERE.