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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
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Blake Silverman

NBA World Couldn't Believe Heat's Big Loss to Cavs to End Disappointing Season

Miami Heat head coach Spoelstra looks on from the sideline against the Cleveland Cavaliers first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Kaseya Center. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Miami Heat didn't put up much of a fight as they faced elimination and a 4–0 sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers Monday night. The Cavs blew out the Heat by 55 points, 138–83 to advance to the second round and end Miami's disappointing season.

Cleveland's rout of Miami was the fourth-biggest blowout in NBA playoff history, only three points shy of tying the record for the largest playoff loss ever. Now, the Heat have a big offseason ahead in determining the franchise's direction in future years, especially after they dealt Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors at this year's trade deadline amid a tumultuous breakup.

Nobody expected the No. 8 seed Heat, who finished the regular season 37-45 and snuck into the playoffs through the play-in tournament, to take down the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed Cavaliers. But the NBA world at least expected Miami to play a competitive game as they faced elimination.

The popular X account @nba_paint even reimagined the Heat's logo based on their performance Monday:

The Cavs advance to play the winner of the Indiana Pacers-Milwaukee Bucks first-round series, which Indiana currently leads 3–1. For Miami—they just have to hope they forget about this one over the offseason.


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NBA World Couldn't Believe Heat's Big Loss to Cavs to End Disappointing Season.

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