Ty Jerome Catches Fire in the Fourth Quarter as Cleveland Takes Game 1 Over Miami

Cleveland, OH - Rocket Arena

National Anthem performed by Saxophonist Mike Phillips

19,432 basketball fans packed Rocket Arena in anticipation of the Cleveland Cavaliers' first playoff game of the 2025 NBA Playoffs against the Miami Heat. The Cavs finished their regular season at 68-14 and earned the one seed in the East, whereas the Heat (37-45), seeded tenth, made it into the playoffs via the Play-In Tournament. This series’ head coaching matchup is a compelling one, featuring Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson—recently named the NBA's 2024–25 Coach of the Year—up against two-time NBA Championship head coach Erik Spoelstra.

From the opening tip, the energy in the arena was electric. The Cavaliers set the tone early with aggressive defense and fast-paced offense. They scored the first five points of the contest and jumped out to an early 14-5 lead, yielding a Miami timeout with 8:30 left in the first quarter. However, out of the timeout, the Heat had figured out how to make this one competitive, going on a 10-2 run to trim the Cavalier lead to one at 16-15. The Heat snatched their first and only lead of the contest, 18-16, with an Andrew Wiggins three-pointer, but the Cavs quickly weathered the light rain shower and grabbed a 20-18 lead off a Darius Garland layup. The Cavs and Heat traded baskets back and forth over the next few minutes; however, stellar shooting off the Cavaliers' bench and steady play by Donovan Mitchell and Garland sparked a shift in momentum, pushing Cleveland’s lead to seven at the end of the first quarter, 31-24. The second quarter was all Cavaliers for the first ten minutes, as they grew their lead as large as sixteen. However, this pesky Heat squad refused to back down. They ended the first half on a 6-0 run to trim their deficit to eight heading into the locker room, 54-62.

In the third quarter, the Cavaliers’ lead hovered near double digits for the first six minutes. Eventually, it ascended beyond that mark, as their disciplined defense and efficient ball movement appeared to wear down the Heat. However, after a Spoelstra timeout with 6:11 left in the third quarter, the Heat again began to claw back into the contest, cutting the Cavs' lead to seven on a Davion Mitchell two-pointer with 5:00 left in the quarter. After trading blows, Cleveland then saw their lead dwindle to six on a Duncan Robinson basket, however, two Ty Jerome free throws with 31 seconds on the clock grew the lead to eight, where it stayed as the third quarter clock hit triple zeroes, 87-79. Jerome got the scoring started in the 4th quarter with a floater in the paint, and this was just the beginning of his dominant fourth quarter. He scored nine of the Cavs' first twelve points and dished out an assist to Sam Merrill for a three with 6:30 left, extending the Cavs' lead to twelve. He knocked down a plethora of shots to help grow the team’s lead to seventeen, and after a Miami timeout with 3:39 left in the game, they led by fifteen. From that point onward, Atkinson’s team did not let the Heat back into this game. Jerome’s spark resulted in a thirteen-point fourth-quarter differential, resulting in a 121-100 Cavs victory.

The Cavs had 3 players score more than 25 points. Donovan Mitchell paced the way with 30 points, Jerome had 28 off the bench, and Garland had 27. Jarrett Allen was the fourth Cavalier in double figures with 12 and added 11 rebounds. Evan Mobley and Max Struss both added 9 points, and Merrill rounded out the scoring with 6 points. Mitchell’s 30-point night was his seventh straight game one in the playoffs scoring 30 or more points, joining Michael Jordan atop the all-time list in the NBA in that statistical category.

The most memorable moment from Coach Atkinson’s post-game interview regarded a conversation about Garland’s level of play on both the offensive and defensive side of the floor: “When Darius (Garland) plays like he did tonight, we are close to unbeatable.”

See the first half of Coach Atkinson’s post-game interview here:

Darius Garland Post-Game Interview:

Ty Jerome and Donovan Mitchell Post-Game Interview:

Game 2 between Cleveland and Miami will take place Wednesday at Rocket Arena, with tipoff time set for 7:30 PM ET.