The Miami Heat suffered a tough loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday evening at Miami-Date Arena.
The final score of the game was 104-100, with Cleveland using a strong second quarter to power the victory. The Cavs had an eight-point advantage in the second quarter, and that proved to be too much of a deficit for Miami to make up.
Turnovers were a big issue for the Heat once again, as the team tallied 22 in the loss. Miami also lost the ball 13 times on steals by Cleveland. Both of those numbers exceeded Miami’s totals going the other way. Considering the close final score, the clear difference maker was ball handling and it remains a problem for the Heat.
Jimmy Butler led Miami in scoring with 28 points, to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Butler didn’t sink a three in the game, and neither did anyone in the starting lineup outside of Tyler Herro. Miami was 8-29 from downtown, which is another area it has struggled in all season long. When the Heat acquired Kevin Love, they hoped for better three-point numbers, but that has not been the case of yet.
Miami will host Cleveland again on Friday at 8:00 P.M.