MIAMI — The play is called «CQ.» It's not the most imaginative name; those are simply the initials of Miami Heat assistant coach Chris Quinn, who drew up a play about four years ago that head coach Erik Spoelstra has been waiting to use.
That wait ended Monday.
Spoelstra called the play and let Quinn run the huddle in the final time-out of the game with four-tenths of a second left in overtime, drawing up how Norman Powell would create a distraction and Davion Mitchell would set a screen and Jaime Jaquez Jr. would just hang out in the corner and Nikola Jovic would throw a lob inbounds pass and Andrew Wiggins, if all went according to plan, would have a dunk at the rim.
«Perfect,» Jaquez Jr. said.
Everything went as it should. Final score: Miami 140, Cleveland 138, capping one of the wilder games in this wild start to the NBA season. It wasn't the only buzzer-beater in the state of Florida on Monday night as an hour earlier Desmond Bane drilled a 3 to help the Orlando Magic beat the Trail Blazers. It's only the second day in NBA history featuring multiple game-winning buzzer-beaters in the same state, according to ESPN Research.
«I'm just embracing the unknown, embracing the confidence guys are gaining in what we're doing,» Spoelstra said. «It always helps when you get some W's out of it, but guys understand our identity to defend and now can create some things for us offensively. Guys are growing right before our eyes.»
Cleveland took 120 shots in the game, the most ever by a Heat opponent and the most by any team in the NBA since Jan. 2, 2023. The Cavaliers took 65 3-pointers, also the most ever by a Miami opponent and the third-highest total in NBA history — Houston took 70 on Jan. 16, 2019 and took 68 three nights
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