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'Embarrassing': NBA's most lopsided playoff series ever
AP • April 29th, 2025 5:25 pm
Cleveland have shown NBA rivals they'll be hard to beat in the playoffs after sweeping Miami | Photo: AP
Cleveland have left no doubt on their way to round two, finishing off the most lopsided series in NBA playoff history.
Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points, De'Andre Hunter added 19 and the Cavaliers rolled past Miami 138-83 on Monday night to sweep their Eastern Conference first-round series in four games.
Ty Jerome had 18 points, Evan Mobley added 17 and Jarrett Allen had 14 points, 12 rebounds and six steals for the Cavs — who led by as many as 60 points.
Cleveland won the four games by a total of 122 points. The previous record was a 121-point combined win by Denver over New Orleans in 2009.
The 55-point margin in Game 4 was the fourth-biggest playoff win ever.
"We came down here with the right mentality and again, our maturity, our leadership, all that stuff we've been talking about all year," Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said.
Nikola Jovic led Miami with 24 points, with Ban Adebayo scoring 13 and Andrew Wiggins 12.
Cleveland will play either Indiana or Milwaukee in the East's semi-finals.
This is the third instance of Miami being swept in a best-of-seven series. The others: against Chicago in 2007 and against Milwaukee in 2021, both of those in the first round and both also ending on the Heat home floor.
"Damn, it was humbling. This series was humbling. These last two games were embarrassing," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
"But Cleveland's also a very good team ... They showed us why we weren't ready for that."
Kenny Atkinson and Erik Spoelstra shake hands after Cleveland's huge Game 4 win | Photo: AP
It was over fast. Cleveland — who used a 33-5 early run to blow Game 3 open — led 43-14 late in the first quarter before Davion Mitchell beat the buzzer with a three-pointer. The 26-point margin matched the worst quarter in Heat playoff history.
In the later game on Monday, Jimmy Butler hit 27 points in his return from a pelvic injury, sending the Golden State Warriors past the Houston Rockets 109-106 in a heated Game 4 to take a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
The teams return to Houston for Game 5 in the best-of-seven series on Wednesday night as seventh-seeded Golden State tries to close out the No. 2 seed Rockets on their home floor.
Brandin Podziemski scored 26 points, Stephen Curry finished with 17 in the frantic finish and Buddy Hield scored 15 after joining the starting lineup.
Alperen Sengun scored 31 points for the Rockets and Fred VanVleet 25.
