CLEVELAND _ With a 22-point lead late in the third quarter, it looked like the Miami Heat would cruise to an easy win over one of the league's worst teams.
But nothing is ever easy for the Heat on the road.
After squandering that huge lead, the Heat (36-21) lost 125-119 in overtime to the Cleveland Cavaliers (16-41) on Monday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Miami fell to 13-18 on the road for the season and is 4-11 over its past 15 games away from home.
Cleveland, which owns the worst record in the Eastern Conference, outscored Miami 14-8 in overtime to complete the comeback win. It marked the Heat's first overtime loss of the season, as it dropped to 8-1 in overtime games.
What got the game to overtime?
With the Heat leading 97-75 with 1:28 remaining in the third quarter, the Cavaliers put together a 32-7 run to take their first lead of the game at 107-104 with 4:10 remaining in the fourth quarter on a three-pointer from rookie guard Kevin Porter Jr. The Heat was outscored 31-12 in the fourth quarter, as it shot 5 of 20 from the field and 1 of 11 on threes in the period.
Porter led the Cavaliers with 30 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
Heat big man Bam Adebayo came close to earning his fourth triple-double of the season, with 22 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists, three steals and four blocks. But not even that was enough, as Miami struggled on both ends of the court in the fourth quarter and overtime.
The good news for the Heat is eight of its next 10 games come at home. Next up for the Heat is a Wednesday matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves at AmericanAirlines Arena to begin a five-game homestand.
