MIAMI — Commit enough turnovers and fouls and sometimes it doesn’t matter who you are playing.
It is a hard reality the Miami Heat learned in Wednesday night’s 130-116 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers at Kaseya Center.
As in a Cavaliers team that gave the night off to Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley and had lost Darius Garland to injury two nights before.
No matter, on a night the Heat too often fouled instead of defended, too often turned the ball over instead of turned up the offense.
“That is a recipe for defeat right there,” Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. said, “a lot of fouls, a lot of turnovers.”
And, with that, much of the edge taken from Monday night’s dramatic overtime victory over the Cavaliers, as the Heat fell at home for the first time in six games at Kaseya Center.
“We didn’t have our normal pop and energy offensively,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We didn’t have our normal energy. There were pockets of the game where you saw the energy, but it was more of a grind.”
Yes, the Heat remained without Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, but by Wednesday had shown they could thrive in such absences.
And then, against a largely anonymous and unknown opposing roster, came a crashing thud after building and squandering double-digit leads in the second and third quarter.
“And this will be a lesson,” Spoelstra said, “having that maturity to be on edge, to really treat it with the same urgency as the other night.”
Instead, 27 points from Norman Powell and not much else of substance.
“That’s a very bad loss,” Powell said. “When they’re sitting their starters, that’s when we’ve got to put our stamp on the game.”
The Heat also got 15 points and 13 rebounds from center Kel’el Ware and 17 points from forward Andrew Wiggins.
Jarrett Allen, one of the few regulars in action for Cleveland, led the Cavaliers with 30 points.
The Heat committed 21 turnovers that led to 29 Cavaliers points, outscored 26-11 from the foul line.
“They did a great job of pressuring,” Spoelstra said. “The fouling potentially could have been a matter of just, not fatigue, but from the other night. And here we were just like a step slow.”
Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:
1. Closing time: The Heat led 38-29 after the first period and, after going up 12 in the second period, 69-66 at halftime.
It was a similar story in the third period, with the Heat going up 14 in the quarter, only to see the lead reduced to 97-93 going into the fourth.
Foul trouble then continued to be an issue for the Heat, with Cleveland in the bonus with 10:20 remaining, the Cavaliers seven seconds later taking their first lead.
“I think we took our foot off the gas . . . and we gave them life.” Powell said.
Powell then returned with 7:47 left and the Heat down 104-100, with the Cavaliers pushing their lead into double digits from there.
“They took over,” Spoelstra said. “You do have to credit them. Those guys were playing aggressive. And we couldn’t contain it at that point.”
2. Off night: With the game opening a back-to-back set for Cleveland that concludes Thursday night at home against the Toronto Raptors, the Cavaliers had pre-scheduled nights off for Mitchell and Mobley.
That approach did not change even with Darius Garland sidelined with a toe injury and Max Strus still out.
The planning with Mitchell was such that he was back at Louisville on Tuesday night for his former school’s rivalry game against Kentucky.
Instead, Cleveland’s rotation in this one included the likes of Luke Travers, Tyrese Proctor and even former Heat center Thomas Bryant.
“No matter who’s out there, you’ve got to put your best foot forward,” Jaquez said of the Heat not doing that.
3. Powell again: Powell remained hot with his 3-point shooting, as well as his scoring, continuing to provide offensive consistency amid the absence of Herro.
In addition to now having made at least one 3-pointer in 23 consecutive games, dating to last season with the Clippers, Powell also now has scored 20 or more in seven in a row, four games shy of the longest such streak of his career.
He closed 10 of 18 from the field and 5 of 10 on 3-pointers.
“We’ve got to be better,” Powell said, “and play our brand of basketball no matter who we’re lining up against.”
4. Tall order: Amid Jaquez’s breakout season and revival from his sophomore slump, the Cavaliers offered up a new twist defensively – by countering with size.
At times, that had 6-11 Jarrett Allen defensively against Jaquez, and at other times 6-10 Bryant.
At times, Jaquez countered with deft ball movement, including passing out of a double-team for a first-half Powell 3-pointer.
Still, it largely was an effective approach, one that figures to be emulated as opponents get a deeper dive into the new Heat approach.
Jaquez closed with 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
“I felt like I got some good looks,” Jaquez said. “Just take it to the film room and continue to learn.”
5. And another two: Having completed the two-game Monday-Wednesday set against the Cavaliers, it’s next two games in a row against the New York Knicks.
Friday night’s game at Madison Square Garden will be an NBA Cup game, the second of four in the first round of the in-season tournament for the Heat, available only streamed on Amazon Prime.
“We’ve got to turn the page quickly,” Powell said.
The teams then will meet again Monday at Kaseya Center, in the second and final Knicks visit of the season.