Miami @ Cleveland preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 22, 2020 ) Cleveland 105, Miami 124

The Miami Heat had no trouble dispatching the Cavaliers at home on Saturday and will attempt to do the same on the road when they visit Cleveland on Monday in the finale of the home-and-home set. The Heat are one of the best home teams in the league at 23-3 in their own arena but are 13-17 on the road.

Miami, which dropped a 129-124 decision at Atlanta coming out of the All-Star break on Thursday, shot 57 percent from the floor and handed out 34 assists on 45 made field goals in the 124-105 drubbing of the Cavaliers on Saturday despite All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler sitting out for personal reasons. The Heat placed seven scorers in double figures in the win including Derrick Jones, Jr., who started in placed of Butler and scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting. The Cavaliers dropped to 1-1 under interim head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who took over from John Beilein during the All-Star break and guided the team to a win in Washington on Friday. "I think they just wore us down," Bickerstaff told reporters. "The first quarter still gave up 38 (points), but they didn't miss nine shots total in the first half. The way they were creating shots, they were open shots, too. So, we made some mistakes on some switches, allowed guys to get free."

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: FS Sun, FS Ohio

ABOUT THE HEAT (36-20): Miami was led on Saturday by 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting from rookie guard Kendrick Nunn, who is 12-of-20 from the floor - 6-of-11 from beyond the arc - in two games since the break after shooting 26.5 percent in the five games leading into the break. Nunn knocked down four of the team's 19 3-pointers on Saturday while Duncan Robinson (5-of-10) and Kelly Olynyk (4-of-6) also enjoyed strong games from beyond the arc. All-Star power forward Bam Adebayo handed out nine assists in the win to go with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (15-41): Cleveland sits in last place in the Eastern Conference and is looking for signs the rest of the way that the young players are improving and the team is coming together, and Bickerstaff was encouraged that his players didn't let a 30-point deficit balloon even larger on Saturday. "You talk about the character of our guys, the character of the group, and it was guys that made the decision to not lay down," Bickerstaff told reporters. "As long as we continue to fight, we'll get better." Veteran center Tristan Thompson is coming off the bench now behind newly acquired center Andre Drummond but was the more productive of the two on Saturday, contributing 16 points and seven rebounds in 26 minutes while Drummond was held to six points and six boards.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Heat SG Tyler Herro (ankle) missed the last seven games and remains questionable for Monday.

2. Cavaliers PF Kevin Love (Achilles) sat out the second night of the back-to-back on Saturday and is day-to-day.

3. Miami took the last eight in the series, including three in a row at Cleveland.

PREDICTION: Heat 112, Cavaliers 109