MIAMI — Cleveland left no doubt on its way to Round 2, finishing off the most lopsided series in NBA playoff history.
Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points, De'Andre Hunter added 19 and the Cavaliers rolled past the Miami Heat 138-83 on Monday night to sweep their Eastern Conference first-round series in four games.
Ty Jerome had 18 points, Evan Mobley added 17 and Jarrett Allen had 14 points, 12 rebounds and 6 steals. Cleveland won the series by a combined 122 points, one more than the previous record for series margin set by Denver over New Orleans in 2009.
«We came out here with a goal in mind,» Mitchell said.
The 55-point margin in Game 4 was the fourth-biggest playoff win ever. The record for biggest playoff win is 58 points, done twice: Minneapolis over St. Louis in 1956 and Denver over New Orleans in 2009. The Los Angeles Lakers beat Golden State by 56 points in 1973.
Nikola Jovic led the Heat with 24 points. Bam Adebayo scored 13 and Andrew Wiggins added 12 for Miami.
The Cavaliers outscored the Heat by 122 points in the series, the largest point differential in a four-game sweep in NBA postseason history.
«Damn, it was humbling. This series was humbling. These last two games were embarrassing,» Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. «But Cleveland's also a very good team.… They showed us why we weren't ready for that.»
Cleveland will play either Indiana or Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Pacers lead that series 3-1; regardless of whether the Pacers or Bucks advance, Game 1 of that series would be in Cleveland and not played until Saturday at the earliest.
«I'm always a big fan of rest,» Mitchell said.
This is the third instance of Miami being swept in a best-of-seven series. The others: against Chicago
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