The Cavs strike back on Wednesday night — they overtook the Heat 37-19 in the fourth quarter. Jarett Allen scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and the Heat fell apart. The Heat lost their first game at home and as per Norman Powell, “it was a bad loss.” The referees may have played a part in the outcome of both games.
Referees may have played a part in Cavs win
Cavaliers Coach Kenny Atkinson was ejected at halftime of Monday night’s game because he was upset about the free throw disparity in the second quarter. Then in the game last night, the referees’ called 13 fouls for the Cavs to 2 for the Heat. Atkinson appears to be correct and it factored into both games.
Atkinson has commented previously on referees. In May during the second round of the playoffs vs. Indiana, he sent three plays to the league for clarification on referee calls. The Heat shot 41 free throw attempts compared to 27 for the Cavs on Monday. Last night, the Cavs shot 31 attempts compared to 13 for Miami. As per a referee roundtable series done at the start of the year, the referees are too busy to unilaterally favor one team or another.
Fourth quarter dominance for Cavs
The Heat were leading to start the fourth quarter at 98-95. Then Cleveland went on a 19-5 run to start the fourth quarter and blew the game open. The Cavs outrebounded Miami 16-5 in the fourth. They also had five offensive rebounds to zero for Miami.
The Heat didn’t help themselves by turning the ball over 21 times. Kel’el Ware had nine rebounds in the game while Nikola Jovic shot six shots, scored two points and four rebounds. Both players have a mission to substitute for Bam Adebayo and solidify the power rotation. They played one of the best rebounding teams in the NBA to a draw. Now they have two games against the Knicks.
