Jimmy Butler scores 33, Heat rally to topple Cavaliers 119-115

MIAMI (AP) —Jimmy Butler did everything right in the final minutes. He knewwhen to score, knew when to rebound, even knew when and how tofoul.

And the MiamiHeat needed all of it.

Butler scored12 of his 33 points in the final 5:11, Tyler Herro added 25 and theHeat rallied from a 14-point, second-half deficit to beat theCleveland Cavaliers 119-115 on Friday night.

“There’s alot at stake,” Herro said. “Every game counts for us.”

DonovanMitchell led all scorers with 42 points for Cleveland, which got 16apiece from Isaac Okoro and Caris LeVert. Evan Mobley added 12 forthe Cavaliers.

Cleveland(42-27) fell 3-1/2 games behind Philadelphia in the race for theNo. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference; the 76ers (44-22) edgedPortland 120-119 on Friday.

Miami (36-32)remained No. 7 in the East, still three games behind No. 6 Brooklyn— which won at Minnesota.

“We’refighting for our competitive lives right now,” Heat coach ErikSpoelstra said. “Is this the exact position we want to be in? No.But you do have to embrace the competition. When you’re dreamingabout things in the middle of the summer, this is what you want,games with incredible pressure and context.”

Bam Adebayoscored 19 points and Max Strus had 14 for the Heat, who split atwo-game home set with the Cavaliers.

“We let themget to their spots too easily. ... But I thought it was a heck of agame,” Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said.

Heck of afinish, too.

Miamioutscored Cleveland 37-26 in the fourth. Butler returned to thegame midway through the final period, then scored eight consecutiveHeat points over a two-minute stretch to keep Miami on top, albeitbarely.

“That’s whyhe’s Jimmy Butler,” Bickerstaff said.

But Clevelandmade it very interesting. Helped by Miami committing offensivefouls on illegal screens on back-to-back possessions, the Cavalierscut the lead to one when Mobley got a dunk with 38.3 secondsleft.

The Cavsnever got the lead back, and a Butler foul helped Miami finish itoff. With the Heat up three, Butler fouled Mitchell near midcourtwith 5.6 seconds left — not letting Cleveland get any looks at apotentially game-tying 3-point shot.

Mitchell madethe first and intentionally missed the second. It was a ploy he’sused before —most notably in the Jan. 2 gameagainst Chicagowhen he forced overtime in what became his71-point game by running down an intentionally missed foul shot andscoring. The Heat knew it was coming, Butler controlled therebound, and iced the game with two last free throws.

“DonovanMitchell missed that free throw about as perfectly as you could,”Spoelstra said.

TIP-INS

Cavaliers: GDarius Garland missed the game with a right quadricep contusion,suffered in Wednesday’s win over Miami. He’s day-to-day. ...Jarrett Allen was inadvertently poked in the eye by Adebayo as thetwo were among those going for a rebound with 3:53 left. The playwas reviewed and determined to be a common foul; Allen left thegame.

Heat: PG KyleLowry missed his 15th consecutive game with left knee soreness.He’s hoping to return at Orlando on Saturday. ... Miami was 11 for19 on 3′s in the second half, after going 3 for 10 in the firsthalf from deep.

RALLIED HEAT

It wasMiami’s sixth time coming back and winning after trailing a game byat least 14 points this season.

BIGHALF

Mitchellscored at least 25 points in a first half for the third time thisseason — all on the road. He had 27 at Dallas on Dec. 14, 25 in hisreturn to Utah on Jan. 10, and 25 on Friday. He had “only” 16 atthe half of his 71-point game in Cleveland against Chicago on Jan.2.

UPNEXT

Cavaliers:Visit Charlotte on Sunday.

Heat: VisitOrlando on Saturday.