The Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday thrashed the Miami Heat to cruise into the next round of the NBA playoffs as the Golden State Warriors battled past the Houston Rockets 109-106 to move to the brink of a series victory.
After pounding Miami 124-87 in game three on Saturday, No.1 Eastern Conference seeds Cleveland once again piled on the misery for their outclassed opponents with a crushing 138-83 victory to complete a 4-0 series win.
The 55-point drubbing was the largest series-clinching victory in NBA playoff history and sets up a series against either the Indiana Pacers or Milwaukee Bucks in the next round.
Photo: AFP
Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers scoring with 22 points on a night when six Cleveland players finished in double figures.
With Darius Garland missing from the Cleveland lineup, Mitchell received support from De’Andre Hunter with 19 points, Ty Jerome (18) and Evan Mobley (17).
Mitchell said Cleveland had been determined to wrap up the series swiftly.
“We came out here with a goal in mind,” Mitchell told TNT television. “To keep our foot on their throat and on their neck, and continue to play 48 minutes of basketball.”
That ruthlessness was apparent from the tip-off, with Cleveland rapidly opening up a monster 43-17 lead after the first quarter against a shellshocked Miami.
The Cavs cranked up the pressure in the second quarter, stretching their lead to as many as 45 points before reaching half-time with a whopping 72-33 lead.
The punishment continued after the break, with the Cavaliers keeping the points flowing to build on their advantage, opening up a 48-point lead at 96-48 midway through the third quarter.
That lead had grown to 111-63 heading into the fourth quarter, and the carnage continued in the final frame as Cleveland romped home.
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said the series loss underscored the gulf between the two teams.
“Damn, it was humbling,” Spoelstra said. “This series was humbling. These last two games were embarrassing, but Cleveland is a very good team... We were as irrational as we usually are thinking that we have a chance to win this series, and they showed us why we weren’t ready for that.”
In Monday’s other playoff game, Jimmy Butler made a dazzling return from injury for Golden State in a pulsating Warriors victory over Houston in San Francisco.
Butler — who was injured in a controversial incident in game two last week and missed game three with a pelvic contusion — scored 27 points to help Golden State take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
An ill-tempered contest frequently threatened to boil over, with several shoving matches erupting at different periods of a hard-fought scrap at the Chase Center.
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