Cavs reveal ruthless offensive plan to attack Miami Heat in first-round playoff series (2025)

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cavs have found a weak link in the ninth-rated Miami defense — and they are continuously and ruthlessly exploiting it on their way to a commanding 2-0 series lead in this first-round playoff matchup.

Tyler Herro.

When asked late Wednesday night, following Cleveland’s 121-112 win in Game 2, where it nearly squandered a 19-point lead and needed Donovan Mitchell’s late-quarter heroics to escape with a victory, point guard Darius Garland verbalized that offensive strategy.

“Pick on Tyler Herro,” Garland said pointedly when discussing his 2019 draft classmate and All-Star counterpart. “Don’t play in tight spaces and pick on their weak defenders. Go at them.”

The specific question was about playing clean basketball and limiting turnovers (the Cavs have committed just 17 through the first two games of this best-of-seven series) against a swarming and disruptive defense that has ranked sixth in forcing miscues over the final 15 games of the regular season.

But the offensive plan has been clear since this seemingly lopsided matchup tipped off Sunday afternoon.

Go at Herro.

And swingman Duncan Robinson — the target of Cleveland’s second-quarter onslaught that led to a 43-point explosion and playoff record 11 made 3-pointers that helped the Cavs build a massive lead that nearly vanished in the second half. Robinson was limited to just four minutes over the final two quarters because of his many defensive limitations and the Cavaliers’ propensity to put him in the action.

According to NBA.com matchup data, the Cavs have had significant success attacking Herro. Garland has scored 16 points on 6 of 10 shooting. Sixth man Ty Jerome is 5 of 6 from the field in that matchup. Donovan Mitchell has missed just two of his seven attempts.

It’s not their only pathway to success. But it’s been a consistent source of quality offense.

Miami knows that as well, with coach Erik Spoelstra changing the starting lineup (pesky Davion Mitchell replaced veteran Alec Burks), altering the defensive strategy to not allow Herro to switch as much and tweaking the pick-and-roll coverage so Cleveland ball-handlers had to deal with more capable defenders.

“Spo gonna spo,” one Cavs player said in the locker room, showing respect for the playoff-tested coaching mastermind, who nearly made enough chess moves to lead his undermanned squad to an improbable comeback.

The other byproduct of relentlessly hunting Herro is the possibility of him getting into foul trouble or wearing down physically and mentally as the series progresses. The Cavs didn’t need to see Herro’s 33-point Game 2 explosion to recognize his importance to Miami’s success.

He was the top name on their scouting report — in two cases.

Despite Spoelstra’s shrewd adjustments, Cleveland kept humming on offense, showing a combination of talent, skill, depth and game plan discipline.

A carryover from the regular season, the Cavs boast the best offense in the playoffs — a historically great 133.0 rating through the first two games while shooting 49.4% from the field and 45.5% from beyond the arc. To put that in perspective, conference finalist Indiana scored 120 points per 100 possessions last spring.

And they didn’t have the benefit of being able to hunt Herro.