Eastern Conference champions Cleveland Cavaliers get their Playoff campaign underway when they take on the Miami Heat in game one of the first round on Sunday night
Having lost the two meetings between the two teams this year, the Heat will journey to the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse looking to get one over the hosts and move into the driver's seat in this series.
Match preview
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The Cleveland Cavaliers enjoyed one of the best seasons in team history as they stormed through the regular season to clinch top spot in the Eastern Conference standings and stamp their name as genuine championship contenders.
NBA's 2016 champions finished with the second most wins in franchise history (64) — only behind their 66-win campaign of 2008-09 — while losing just 18 games to clinch first seed in the East for just the fourth time.
Making his debut at the helm of affairs, first-year coach Kenny Atkinson performed beyond expectation as he guided the Cavaliers to the best offensive rating (121.0) while becoming just the fifth coach to win at least 64 games in his debut season.
Key to their standout campaign was the performance on the road, where Cleveland racked up 30 victories to break their franchise record while picking up 34 victories at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, their sixth-highest win tally at home in NBA history.
The Cleveland Cavaliers finished the regular season with a 2-3 record from their final five games and they will look to up the ante in the post-season, where they have failed to go past the second round since getting swept aside by the Golden State Warriors in the 2018 finals.
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While Cleveland cruised to the playoffs, the Miami Heat had to do it the hard way after finishing as 10th seed in the Eastern Conference after finishing with a 37-45 record from their 82 regular-season games to book their spot in the Play-In tournament for the third straight season.
Tyler Herro was the hero for the Heat in the opening game of the Play-In as he dropped 38 points on an efficient 13-of-19 shooting from the field to inspire Miami to a 109-90 win over the Chicago Bulls and set up a thrilling clash against the Atlanta Hawks for a place in the playoffs.
Erik Spoelstra's men had to sweat their socks off against the Hawks as Trae Young knocked down a jumper with two seconds left on the shot clock to force overtime but Davion Mitchell hit three 3-pointers to put the Miami Heat in the clear and fire them to a 123-114 victory.
While Young finished with a team-high 29 points, six Heat players finished with double digits at the D, led by Herro's game-high 30 while Andrew Wiggins dropped 20 and Bam Adebayo tallied a 17-point 11-rebound double-double.
Miami Heat will head into the post-season, looking to improve on their 2023-2024 playoff run, when they were sent packing by eventual championship winners Boston Celtic in the first round courtesy of a 4-1 defeat.
The three-time NBA Champions have reached the playoff final twice in the last six years, losing 4-2 against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 and most recently falling 4-1 against the Denver Nuggets in the 2022-23 season.
Off the back of two crunch victories, the Miami Heat will head into the playoff first round with plenty of optimism, particularly given their recent form on the road, where they are on a run of six wins from their last seven games — having lost the five road matches preceding this run.
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Team News
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Having missed each of the final four games of the regular season through an ankle injury, Donovan Mitchell recently returned to team practice and Atkinson will be hoping to have his floor general for the start of the playoffs.
Mitchell, who averaged a team-high 24.0 points in the regular season, was named an NBA All-Star for the sixth time this season as the Cavaliers became the only team with three All-Stars (Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley).
Ty Jerome missed each of the last two games after coming off with a knee injury against the Indiana Pacers on April 11 and the 27-year-old guard is considered day-to-day heading into Monday's playoff first round.
As for the Miami Heat, Dru Smith has been sidelined for the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery over a ruptured left Achilles tendon back in December.
Veteran forward Kevin Love missed Saturday's crunch clash against the Hawks and the 36-year-old is considered day-to-day ahead of the trip to the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Like Herro, Bam Adebayo has been a key figure for the Heat this season, with the 27-year-old posting 38 double-doubles this season — his sixth straight season with 20+ and the longest season streak in team history.
Cleveland Cavaliers possible starting 5:
Garland, Mitchell, Allen, Strus, Mobley
Miami Heat possible starting 5:
Herro, Burks, Ware, Adebayo, Wiggins
We say: The Cleveland Cavaliers to win by 7+ points.
The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat know that victory here sets the tone for the rest of the series and we expect both sides to go all out at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Sunday. While we expect the Heat to put up a fight, Atkinson's men have made their home court a fortress this season and we fancy them to draw first blood in the series.
Joshua Ojele
