This is EXACTLY what Heat fans have been waiting for...

This is exactly what Miami Heat fans have been waiting for up to this point in the NBA season, as on Friday night in Miami, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 37 points on 15 of 20 shooting. And despite that phenomenal performance from Giannis, the blockbuster acquisition this past offseason, he may have not been the best player on the floor for this Miami Heat team. The captain of this Miami Heat team, Bam Adebayo, matched him with 37 of his own points and didn't turn the ball over one singular time. Together, that's 74 of Miami's 133 points, while nobody else on the team scored more than 22. According to the AP, the Heat have had two players score 37 or more points in the same game only one other time in franchise history, and that was LeBron James with 40 and Dwayne Wade with 39 back in 2013 and this time it came in a building where Miami flat out has proven they could not win early in this NBA season at home at the Kaseya Center as Miami was only one in three up to this point at home going into Friday night's win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. For this Miami Heat team that went all in on Giannis Antetokounmpo, doubling down, tripling down for that matter, on the captain Bam Adebayo, that was the most staggering and most embarrassing number as they could not win at home despite the team they had constructed. The Cleveland Cavaliers came in with Donovan Mitchell and James Harden and the Cavs led 57 to 54 at halftime. After the game, Bam said this, quote, we are still figuring it out how to be dominant in the same space. Tonight was a huge step forward. So the big question is, was Friday night the big step Miami was waiting to see between these two juggernauts in Miami? Or was it just one single outlier game in a big night against a Cleveland Cavaliers team without Evan Mobley? Because after three quarters, Miami led by just one in a 92-91 game. It had been tied at 89 late in the third quarter until Andrew Wiggins hit a three from 27 feet. Then early in the fourth quarter, Cleveland cut it back to one on a Malik Thomas floater. And then that's when Bam Onabayo flat out took over against the Cleveland Cavaliers for this Miami Heat team. Bam had a 12-foot jumper, a driving layup, plus the foul, and a free throw, another free throw, and then a pull-up from 11 feet, and Kenny Atkinson, the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, had to call a timeout. That was eight straight points for the Miami Heat from just Bam on a bio in literally 83 seconds. This was the version of Bam on a bio all of Heat Nation has been begging and waiting for all season long, especially when the game is tight. He calls for the ball and absolutely dominates. This was the version of Bam Adebayo that was not deferring. He was not waiting on Giannis to get the job going. He flat out took the ball and continued to dominate possession after possession, understanding and knowing how great of a player he actually is and accepting the challenge going right at every defender Cleveland put at him. And despite this great offensive performance in the sense of scoring the basketball, that was only half of the run for Miami. On the other end, Cleveland missed six shots in a row, three of them from Donovan Mitchell. For three minutes and 33 seconds, the Cavs didn't score a single point. That stretch right there is where Miami won this game. Not only having a reliant option on offense with Bam Adebayo as the focal point, as well as multiple other options, which we'll get to in just But also the defense stepped up and showed out tonight, finally, for the first time it feels like all season long against a competent, very legitimate threat, not only in the Eastern Conference, but the league in general. The Miami Heat ran off 11 straight points and let's look at how it ended. Andrew Wiggins misses. Bam keeps the ball alive on the offensive glass and Ryan Conwell buries a three from 26 feet deep. The lead got to 13 and Cleveland never got closer than six the rest of the way. The Miami Heat won the fourth quarter 41 to 30 over the Cleveland Cavs. The best quarter by either team all night long. Bam finished with 18 points in the fourth quarter alone. That's more than he averaged for the whole game coming in at 17.8. In his last five games before Friday, he had only gone over 20 one single time. He even put the dagger in himself, a pull-up jumper with 31 seconds left. And where Bam Adebayo took his shots and his overall shot selection for the game was the entire story. Going back to what Bam Adebayo said himself about playing with Giannis and being dominant in the same space was a huge part of this equation as both of these players, both of these juggernauts for this Heat team were absolutely dominant despite playing on the court at the same time. Despite this Miami Heat team going off to a 0-4 start to begin this NBA season and all of the critics and all of the noise surrounding them about how Giannis and Bam are not going to work together with only one basketball and only one basket and the ability for defenses to defend them without allowing them to get into the painted area and dominate at least side by side, they continue to work. They continue to trust this Miami Heat organization led by head coach And now things are really beginning to work. And tonight was the best example of it all season long. Giannis answered the doubts this week. The level of his belief is 100%. It never wavered, no matter what anybody had said. Former Miami Heat captain Udonis Haslam said this week that his advice to both of them is to embrace a role that's a little different from what they're accustomed to, at least been accustomed to, all season long and all career long for both Bam and Giannis. On Friday, this Miami Heat team, and specifically Giannis and Bam, took turns and absolutely dominated and it worked out as beautifully as anyone could have expected. The third quarter was Giannis. 14 points, two alley-oops from Devion Mitchell, a reverse layup, and a dunk. He was passing it out too. He found Bobby Portis for a three in the same quarter. Bam only had five in that quarter, and his best shot was a step-back three that Giannis had set up. Then in the fourth, it flipped. Giannis only had six points, but Bam had 18. And Bam didn't take those shots at the rim. Most of them were jumpers from 9 to 12 feet. He also stretched it it past the arc after coming in making 17%. percent of his threes this season. Friday he made two of his three-point attempts. So in this game they didn't fight over who was going to dominate at the rim or in the painted area. One dominated from 9 to 12 feet while the other dominated down in the painted area in Giannis Antetokounmpo which is exactly what Miami fans have been waiting for. Not Bam relying and living and dying by the three point shot but working in the mid-range area. Working just a step outside the painted area And making high. efficiency shots that we know he's capable of doing. If anyone was wondering what a perfect scenario was between Bam and Giannis in the pairing of them both in Miami, this is the perfect picture to imagine. Not to mention, both of them were efficient too. Giannis made 15 of his 20 shots while Bam made 13 of his 19. Giannis came in averaging 27.5 points a game with Miami, I mean, so Bam's night was no cost to him. Put the lines together side by side without the names and you can't tell who is who. And the biggest takeaway without a shadow of a doubt is the guy who made all of this work. And that is point guard De'Veon Mitchell. As De'Veon Mitchell had 22 points and 17 assists, tying a career high. 13 of those 17 went to the two stars, 8 to Giannis and 5 to Bam on a bio. He was a plus 22 in 39 minutes while running the entirety of this offense for the Miami Heat. Eric Spolster gave him the point guard job this season, and De'Veon has said he was ready for it. Quote, I've always been a point guard. I've just had a bigger opportunity now. He understands the game. He understands who to feed when they are hot. As Bam Adebayo went on a solo run by himself in the third quarter or late early in the fourth quarter where he scored basically 11 or 12 points by himself consecutively for this Miami Heat team and De'Veon Mitchell was at the forefront of all of it. That's what a great point guard does. Not a good point guard, but a great point guard who has been drastically overlooked all season long up to this point. He understands that he has two legitimate juggernauts on the offensive and defensive side. Again, we're focusing on the offensive side of things here with this conversation. He understands that he has Giannis and Bam Adebayo here, and they are both Really flowing and they have all of their shots falling at this point and they're dominant up to this point in the game. He understands who to go to at the right moment. He hits the ball to them in the right position and they are able to do the rest. And with everybody eating the bench got going too and Ryan Conwell scored 20 on four made threes and this youngster looks like an absolute problem for the rest of the league and the steal of the NBA draft just a year ago. And all of this happened in the Kaseya Center, where the Miami Heat looked like they flat out could not win basketball games. And tonight, not only did they win against a credible team in the Cleveland Cavaliers that are loaded with obviously Evan Mobley and Jared Allen and Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. They were able to go out there, dominate, and win a game at home that looks like this is the Miami Heat team all teams in the league, not just the Eastern Conference, should absolutely fear. The Miami Heat lost their first three home games of the NBA season to Minnesota by 25, Detroit by 17, and the Dallas Mavericks by 4. In their first four home games, they gave up 124 Per game, that home record kept piling up on the wrong side of the board until Friday against the Cavs. The only home win before this was the NBA Cup night against the Indiana Pacers in a 145-point game where they outscored the Pacers to 145-125 with a Giannis Antetokounmpo triple double that led the way. All of Heat Nation in the arena and outside watching via television or whatever it may be, we're waiting for this moment all season long. And finally, we all get a taste and get a glimpse of what actually we could see from this Heat team based off how they're currently constructed. Friday night's game was a cup night too and with this win puts Miami at 2-0 alone at the top of the Eastern Group B. Their last two group games are on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks which will be a daunting matchup but still based off how they have looked it looks like they are right on track to continue to roll. With a pair of wins the Heat are in the cup quarterfinals and will be carrying all the momentum going forward. Friday also left Cleveland out 1-1, and no team in Cup history has reached the knockouts with a group record worse than 3-1. Zoom out, and this is a team that started this season 0-4. They've gone 6-2 since, and the last three have all been wins. The two games before this on the road in Sacramento and against the Utah Jazz were both six-point wins. At six and six, it's the first time all season Miami doesn't have a losing record. And the timing matters because Friday was the game one of a five-game homestand, which absolutely matters because Miami was dreadful at home and now they're walking into more home games and they are coming off of a dominant win where this Heat team has looked its best all season long. If this team is going to fix its home record and overall going to look like a competitive team, not only in the Eastern Conference, but the league in general, this is the absolute stretch to do it. But Miami still gave up 121 points on Friday, and that's where all of the doubt starts and continues with this Heat team. For three quarters, this was the same Heat defense all of Heat Nation and this Heat organization had been accustomed to, which was extremely dreadful in not meeting the expectations placed upon them going into this NBA season. Cleveland scored 121 points and coming in Miami was already the 26th ranked defense in the league in points allowed. The Cavs shot 49% from the field and made 18 threes. Tyrese Proctor did a lot of that off the bench with 22 points on 7 of 9 shooting. Miami was 22nd in defensive rating coming in, a long way from the goal Bam set as a top three defense. So the big question is what changed in the fourth quarter? Over the whole game, Miami won the glass battle. 46 rebounds to 36. 13 of those in which were offensive rebounds and Bam grabbed four of them on his own. They also defended without fouling. 20 fouls to Cleveland's 29 on the night and took 12 more free throws. Giannis played 31 minutes and didn't commit a single foul the entire time. Donovan Mitchell scored 25, but Cleveland was was outscored by 20 with him on the floor. James Harden got his 22 but it took almost 13 shots to make five of them. With this game on the line, the defense showed up and they got stops, which they absolutely needed, especially against a pairing in Cleveland that seems almost impossible to do, especially when you're ranked as poorly as Miami against a pairing of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, two of the best isolation scores in all of basketball. That right there was the level of defense Bam Adebayo was alluding to just a few days ago with his quotes. This team could be top five, top three in all defensive metrics and it didn't just last one single stretch which is the biggest takeaway. There is one catch though that we have to address. Evan Mobley didn't play, out for the first time this season with a sprained big toe. That put all of the rim defense on Jared Allen, and he finished with nine points and eight rebounds. Without him at the rim, Cleveland gave up 56 points in the paint and scored only 40 from there. Miami was missing Klay Thompson and Pella Larson, so neither side was whole. So it's one good game, a really one good quarter defensively from this Miami Heat team, which leaves the question, is it enough to believe in this team going forward? If you've stuck with this Miami Heat team despite the lackluster start and especially after going 0-4, hit the subscribe button as we are so close to our goal of 5,000 subscribers and we can't do it without you guys. Overall, a phenomenal performance from De'Veon Mitchell, Giannis, and Bam Adebayo as those three guys led the way for this Miami Heat team. Mitchell was able to collect 17 assists with only one turnover. 13 of those assists went towards the two juggernauts and Bam and Giannis onto the combo. But honestly, that's the way things are going to work in Miami. Those two guys are going to lead the way offensively, especially. I guess you will have the occasional night where guys get hot and Clay Thompson, Tim Hardaway Jr. and various others. But Bam and Giannis have to lead the way. Mitchell is able to collect 17 assists on obviously rare occasions because that is a lot of assists. That is still massive, even though 13 of them go to the juggernauts in Bam and Giannis. The home record is still an absolute problem and it cannot be overlooked, but this is a good start to really flip the schedule and get them back to absolutely dominating, especially on their own That's now three straight in a row and the streak goes on right away. Detroit comes in Saturday night in the second night of a back-to-back for Miami. Those are the Pistons who beat the Miami Heat by 17 in the same building back in October. So Bam called tonight a big win, a huge step for this Miami Heat team, especially on the defensive end. But again, it's just one step. Let me know down below, how do you guys feel about this Miami Heat win? Do you think it means more than just one step figuratively, or do you think it is, again, only one step in the right direction they need to continue to build on it in order to be considered a definitive blockbuster team in the entirety of the NBA? Let me know down in the comments how you guys feel about this major win by the Miami Heat team, and I will see you guys on the next episode of Heat Digest.