The Miami Heat matched up pretty well with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the regular season, winning the first game between the two teams in December and narrowly losing a 112-107 nail-biter at the Rocket Arena last month. In their first-round playoff series, however, it was a different story with Erik Spoelstra’s men failing to turn up in a one-sided series.
The Heat didn’t put up much of a fight against the No. 1 seed Cavaliers, getting swept in historic fashion.
A 121-100 loss in the opening game could have been attributed to fatigue and tired legs after the play-in tournament. Miami had its best performance of the series in Game 2, eventually falling to a 121-112 loss.
A 37-point defeat in the third game and a lopsided 55-point loss in Game 4 left many analysts questioning where the Heat go from here.
Monday’s Blowout Sees Miami Heat Make NBA Playoffs History
Tyler Herro’s early 3-pointer gave Miami a 3-2 lead in Monday’s Game 4 matchup, but it was all downhill from there. Spoelstra’s team spiraled early on, giving up a whopping 43 points to Cleveland in the first quarter. They trailed by 39 at the half, and at that stage, the second half was a mere formality.
The Cavs didn’t let up, scoring 66 points in the final two quarters to win 138-83 and close out the series.
The 55-point win meant the Cavaliers outscored the Heat 504-382 over four games. That 122-point difference is the greatest margin in a playoff series in NBA history.
Cleveland won this series by 122 points: The most lopsided series in NBA playoff history.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) April 29, 2025
The unwanted record was previously held by the New Orleans Hornets, who had no answers for the Denver Nuggets in 2009. New Orleans would go on to lose by a combined score of 542-421 (121 points) over five games.
Monday’s 55-point loss at the Kaseya Center was not the biggest defeat in playoff history, but it was the largest win by a team in 16 years.
In 1973, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors by 56 points (126-70), which ranks third on the list. Back when they were in Minneapolis, the Lakers were also responsible for one of the biggest wins in playoff history, defeating the St. Louis Hawks by 58 points (133-75). The 58-point margin, which remains the playoff record, was matched by the Nuggets in 2009 when they beat New Orleans 121-63.
The Heat will need to go back to the drawing board this offseason after a disappointing finish to the campaign. With talented stars like Herro, Bam Adebayo and Andrew Wiggins on the roster, there is still plenty of potential in this Miami lineup, though they might need to go star-hunting to claw their way back into the grand scheme of things this time next year.