The Cleveland Cavaliers are headed to the postseason, and they’re the first team in the NBA to punch their ticket. With a 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat, the Cavs became the first team to officially clinch a playoff berth, reinforcing their status as a legitimate contender. The win was Cleveland’s 12th straight, pushing them to 52-10 on the season. That record is already four wins better than last year and there are still 20 games to go.
“This was an expectation,” Donovan Mitchell said. “Is it great that we did it in March? Yeah. But this is the bare minimum for us. I think a playoff berth is something that we’ve just come to be like, ‘This is who we are.’ Now it’s, can we be the one seed?”
However, true to form lately, Cleveland didn’t make this win over Miami easy.
After a recent stretch of comeback wins, the Cavs looked determined to flip the script. Instead of digging themselves a double-digit hole early, they stormed out of the gate, scoring 36 points in the first quarter while hitting five of their first ten three-pointers. By the second quarter, they led by as many as 17, appearing poised to cruise to a comfortable win.
Miami had other ideas.
The Cavs weren’t at their best and were challenged by the Heat
Despite missing key players—including their only All-Star, Tyler Herro, along with Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jovic, and Jaime Jaquez Jr.—the Heat clawed their way back into the game. Cleveland’s offense cooled off considerably after their red-hot start, posting just 27 points in the second quarter and a sluggish 23 in the third. By the time the fourth quarter began, their lead had dwindled to just four points.
Then came Miami’s somehow inevitable collapse.
The Heat opened the final period on a run, seizing their first lead of the game and stretching it to as many as seven points midway through the quarter. For a moment, it looked like Cleveland’s streak—and their hopes of clinching the NBA’s first playoff spot—might have to wait.
Enter Max Strus, who saved the Cavs from suffering a rare home loss.
Facing his former team, Strus delivered when it mattered most. He drilled several clutch three-pointers late in the game, swinging the momentum back in Cleveland’s favor. Then, with just 30 seconds left and the Cavs up three, he forced a crucial turnover. It should have been the dagger.
Instead, chaos ensued.
On the very next possession, Darius Garland turned the ball over while crossing half-court, gifting Miami another chance to send the game to overtime. The Heat went straight to Duncan Robinson for a potential game-tying three, but Strus wasn’t done yet. He pressured Robinson into stepping out of bounds, erasing Miami’s last real hope. Garland then sealed the win at the free-throw line.
It wasn’t pretty, but the job was done.
Max Strus was on the loose in the win over Miami!
“We’re not a cocky team, but we kind of know [who we are],” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “We’re getting to the point where we show zero kind of trepidation or we don’t rush for the most part, and we get to what we want to get to.”
While Cleveland’s performance was far from dominant, especially against a shorthanded Miami squad, there’s no denying the significance of the win. By clinching the first playoff berth in the league, they sent a message: This team isn’t just good. They’re ready to compete for something bigger.
The remainder of Cleveland’s regular season presents a grueling schedule. The Cavs will play 16 games in 29 days, all in different cities on consecutive nights. So, although they were the first team to clinch, staying at the top won’t be easy. But if this season has proven anything, it’s that Cleveland thrives under adversity.
And now, they’re officially playoff-bound.
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