Miami Heat Advance To .500, Beat Cleveland Cavaliers In NBA Cup Action

After a sluggish start to the regular season, the Miami Heat have now clawed their way back to .500 after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night by a score of 133-121 in NBA Cup group play. The Heat are now 6-6 after weeks filled with criticism along with some noticeable team chemistry issues. This victory was the team's first game of a back-to-back home set.

For the Heat, Bam Adebayo was one of the team's leading scorers with 37 points, adding 14 rebounds as well. Miami and Cleveland kept it close for almost the entire game before the Heat ran away with it towards the end. Giannis Antetokounmpo also continued his All-NBA campaign with a 37-point game of his own, adding nine rebounds and two assists as well.

Davion Mitchell had a notable game as well with the absences of both Pelle Larsson and Klay Thompson in the backcourt. Mitchell posted 22 points along with tying a career-high 17 assists as he and Adebayo led the team in plus/minus. Myron Gardner earned a spot in the starting lineup with the injuries and didn't post an impressive stat line in 19 minutes.

One player who made some noise prior to the regular season is rookie guard Ryan Conwell, the Heat's recent second-round draft pick. The guard generated a ton of buzz throughout workouts and camps before taking it a step further with a strong preseason run. He translated that to the court tonight as he scored 20 points in an increased role with the backcourt injuries. There have been rumblings about him being a breakout candidate this season and with his performance tonight, he may have earned himself more playing time.

While it was a big game for many, there were a few players on the team who did not have their strongest performances. Andrew Wiggins continues to come off the bench and despite his +11 plus/minus ratio, he wasn't very active on the scoring front, only putting up eight points while Bobby Portis scored five of his own.

For the Cavaliers, guards Donovan Mitchell and James Harden led the team in scoring as they continue to be one of the more high-scoring backcourts in the Eastern Conference. Another guard, Tyrese Proctor, added 19 points off the bench as well. The Cavaliers were without Evan Mobley and Sam Merrill for this matchup, two integral players in their lineup.

The Heat next host the Pistons on Saturday night as they look to get over .500 for the first time this season.