Heat waste 21-point lead, then surge past Cavaliers

Norman Powell scored 19 points and Bam Adebayo collected 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, allowing the visiting Miami Heat to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-103 after blowing a 21-point lead on Wednesday night.

Tyler Herro added 18 points, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Pelle Larsson each scored 14 points for Miami (39-34), which snapped a five-game losing streak and claimed sole possession of eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Donovan Mitchell scored 28 points in 33 minutes before fouling out for the first time in his career for the fourth-place Cavaliers (45-28). Sam Merrill and James Harden had 18 points apiece, while Keon Ellis scored 17.

The Heat went ahead for good at 93-90 on Jaquez's 3-pointer with 8:40 remaining after the Cavaliers had taken their only two leads of the evening earlier in the fourth quarter.

Nae'Qwan Tomlin's two free throws put Cleveland up 90-88 before Miami ended the game on a massive 32-13 run.

The Cavaliers had won four straight, including a 136-131 home victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.

Harden added nine rebounds and seven assists in his 1,000th career start. Cleveland is 13-4 with him in the lineup.

The Cavaliers ended the third on a 23-8 run, capped by a pair of Mitchell 3-pointers, to tie the score at 83. Mitchell had 11 points in the surge and 13 in the quarter, which also saw Cleveland score 10 unanswered points after Miami pushed ahead 75-60.

The Heat poured it on in the second quarter, with Powell's hoop giving them a 57-36 advantage with 2:16 remaining. Miami carried a 63-46 lead into the half as Powell had 13 points and Herro 11. Mitchell paced Cleveland with 13 points.

Herro scored nine points on three 3-pointers and Powell had six points on a pair of deep shots as Miami went up 28-19 after the first. Harden had seven points for the Cavaliers, who gave up 10 points on five turnovers.

Cleveland was without center Jarrett Allen (right knee tendonitis) for the 10th consecutive game and small forward Jaylon Tyson (toe bruise) for the second straight. Power forward Dean Wade (right ankle sprain) was hurt while warming up.

Former Heat swingman Max Strus (left foot), who logged 27 minutes for Cleveland against Orlando, was given the night off as part of his rehabilitation process.

--Field Level Media