Heat rally to beat LeBron and Kyrie-less Cavs in OT, keep stunning playoff chase alive

After the Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls each won on Monday night, the Miami Heat had to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers to keep their playoff hopes alive. Even with superstars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving getting the night off after logging heavy minutes in Sunday’s overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks, victory didn’t come easily or quickly … but eventually, an extra five minutes later, the Heat got what they needed.

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After falling behind by double-digits early and by 14 in the third quarter, the Heat rallied to take a seven-point lead midway through the fourth with a hellacious 26-8 run fueled by point forward James Johnson and reserve shooter Wayne Ellington. The Cavs came back, though, with vets Kyle Korver, Kevin Love and Deron Williams hitting big shots down the stretch to put Cleveland up by two with one minute left, forcing a tough Goran Dragic jumper to knot the score at 108 heading into the closing seconds of regulation.

Cleveland had the chance to win it, but Heat center Hassan Whiteside blew up a Deron Williams-Kevin Love pick-and-roll to give Miami a chance of its own …

… which amounted to nothing, sending the game to overtime. Miami came out hot in OT, scoring the first six points of the extra session, but the 3-ball got Cleveland back on track … or, for the sake of accuracy, the 4-ball:

With 13.6 seconds left in overtime, Heat guard Tyler Johnson stepped to the line for two free throws that could give Miami a three-point lead, setting the stage for a wild final possession:

Johnson made his pair, and with no timeouts, the Cavs had to push the ball in pursuit of a game-tying answer. But Miami guard Josh Richardson hounded Williams into not only giving up the ball, but running straight into Korver, eliminating any chance of a quick-release 3 off a dribble handoff.

Korver passed to Frye, who looked to pitch the ball to J.R. Smith, but Dragic was in his hip pocket to stop any handoffs, forcing Frye to work against Whiteside from beyond the 3-point arc, straight away, with less than five seconds left on the game clock. Frye eventually spun free and rose for a triple fading to his left, but the shot went wide, sealing a 124-121 overtime win that kept Miami in the hunt for a once-unthinkable playoff berth into the final day of the season.

Playing without their two top scorers, the Cavs got a surprising turn-back-the-clock performance from Williams, the former All-Star point guard turned veteran backup, who led the way with a game-high 35 points on 14-for-25 shooting, nine assists (albeit with 10 turnovers), seven rebounds, a steal and a block in 46 minutes:

But despite Williams’ throwback game, 25 points and 10 rebounds from Love (who was listed as questionable with an illness prior to the game) and 21 points from Frye in his fourth straight start in place of the injured Tristan Thompson, the Cavs didn’t have enough to put away a Heat team that has just kept scratching and clawing its way back toward the light for three straight months. The loss dropped Cleveland to 51-30, a full game behind the Boston Celtics for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Tyler Johnson made four critical free throws in the final 30 seconds, and finished with a team-high 24 points on 7-for-12 shooting with five rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes off the bench. Whiteside added 23 points, 18 rebounds and two blocks, while Richardson turned in a stellar two-way game (19 points on 14 shots, six rebounds, five steals, four assists, and a block in 46 1/2 minutes) for the Heat, who have gone a stunning 29-11 since falling to 11-30 on Jan. 13.

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Only the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs have a better record or net rating (whether you outscore your opponent over the course of 100 possessions, or vice versa) during that stretch than the Heat, who now sit at 40-41, one game behind the seventh-seeded Pacers, and tied on record with the Bulls for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Chicago occupies the No. 8 spot by virtue of holding the head-to-head tiebreaker, but by winning on Monday, Miami gave itself a chance that nobody in their right mind would’ve given the Heat after Miami fell 19 games under .500 in mid-January.

Now, if they can beat the Washington Wizards — who are locked into the East’s No. 4 seed, but that can reach the 50-win mark for the first time since 1979 by knocking off Miami — and if either Indiana or Chicago loses their final games of the season, the Heat can make the playoffs. And if they both lose and the Heat win, then Miami, which beat Indy twice in three meetings this season, can even rise to the seventh spot:

Indiana, winners of four straight, will finish out the season against the Atlanta Hawks, while the Bulls will face the Brooklyn Nets, the team with the worst record in the NBA. (But also, to be fair, one that has played near-.500 ball and boasted a top-10 defense since the All-Star break, and that just knocked off Chicago on Saturday.)

The odds are not in Miami’s favor, but that’s been true for the last three months, and it hasn’t stopped the Heat yet.

“We think it’s meant to be,”‘ Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters after the game. “But we have to take care of business.”

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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