Playoff Jimmy activated: Miami Heat picks up important win over Cleveland Cavaliers as they fight to avoid play-in

Jimmy Butler was locked into this important game as he led the Miami Heat to a massive 107-104 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The reigning Eastern Conference champions are having another underwhelming regular season as they currently sit in the play-in picture once again. While they were able to make an NBA Finals appearance last postseason after coming out of the play-in tournament, things may not be as easy this year with the East being much more competitive. The Heat will be looking to secure a top 6 seed if they can and tonight’s win is huge for that goal.

With no Bam Adebayo or Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler stepped up and played amazing with high stakes on the line as he finished with 30 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals. Terry Rozier scored 24 points and hit 5 three pointers while Nikola Jovic had 14 points and 6 rebounds. Recently acquired Patty Mills got the start and recorded 10 points with 4 assists and 2 steals.

Jarrett Allen had a monster performance as he finished with 25 points and 20 boards in 10/13 shooting from the field. Darius Garland had 20 points and 9 assists with 5 triples while Caris LeVert ended with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 12 assists, and 2 steals. Georges Niang contributed 18 points while Sam Merrill provided 12 points on 4/9 shooting from behind the arc.

Miami improves to 38-32 with this win and now sit just 0.5 games behind Philadelphia for the 6th seed in the East. Every game is important in a tight race for the standings so this was an outstanding performance by the Heat to get the job done. They are 5-5 over their last 10 games and their next matchup will be on Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Cleveland drops to 43-26 with this loss and now sit 1 game behind the Bucks for the 2nd seed. The Cavs have struggled without Donovan Mitchell and they are slowly falling in the standings, as the Knicks sit just 1.5 games away from overtaking them for the 3rd seed. This loss isn’t ideal for the Cavaliers but they will look to shake it off and bounce back on Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.