CLEVELAND — Donovan Mitchell delivered when the Cleveland Cavaliers needed him most.
After the Miami Heat seized momentum and appeared on the verge of possibly tying the series, Mitchell took over. He scored Cleveland’s next eight points and the Cavaliers held on for a 121-112 victory on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
“I love the fact the game happened like this. We had to really find a way as a group and then we responded,” said Mitchell, who led Cleveland with 30 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter. “I kept trying to find the mismatch and make a play.”
It was the 27th career playoff game with at least 30 points for Mitchell, who also had six rebounds and six assists.
“He’s a superstar for a reason. It’s kind of like there is nothing you can do in the NBA sometimes when someone is hitting tough shots like that,” said Miami’s Davion Mitchell, who scored 18 points.
The Cavaliers had a 19-point lead with under 3 minutes remaining in the third quarter before the Heat made their run to get within 105-103 lead with 3:11 left.
Mitchell responded on the ensuing trip by driving and making a step-back floater to put the Cavs up by four.
After Jarett Allen made a steal on a bad pass by Miami’s Nikola Jovic, Mitchell buried a 3-pointer to give momentum back to the Cavaliers, along with some breathing room.
“I’m proud of the guys for holding our composure. It helps when you have Donovan Mitchell. It was one of those superstar takes over games,” coach Kenny Atkinson said.
The top-seeded Cavaliers set an NBA playoff record with 11 3-pointers in the second quarter and had 22 for the game, tied for sixth most. Evan Mobley had 20 points and Darius Garland 19 for Cleveland.
Tyler Herro scored 33 points for Miami, which hosts Game 3 on Saturday afternoon.
“We lost the game. I don’t think there are any moral victories, to be honest. We can’t have lapses where we’re not fully engaged,” Herro said. “We’ve got to get that cleaned up or we’ll be down 3-0.”
Miami had a 16-7 lead before the Cavs rallied and went up 25-24 at the end of the first quarter.
Cleveland held a 33-30 lead before taking control with a 17-4 run that included five 3-pointers, with two apiece by Max Strus and Sam Merrill.
De’Andre Hunter’s dunk with 2:33 remaining in the third quarter gave the Cavaliers a 93-74 advantage before the Heat made their charge with 10 straight points. That started a 25-8 run that saw the Heat get within a basket. Davion Mitchell scored 12 during the rally, with five points apiece by Herro and Nikola Jovic.
“We knew it was going to be a full game. When they threw that punch in the fourth quarter I think everyone locked in,” Mobley said.
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