Cavaliers know Heat series won't be easy, but it could be just what they need

CLEVELAND The only player on the Cleveland Cavaliers to actually win a championship was stretched out at his locker, returning texts on his phone after the Cavs impressive 121-100 Game 1 win over the Miami Heat.

This is the 23rd playoff series Tristan Thompson has been part of in the NBA.

There is something unique about facing the Heat in this series that he compares to 2016, when the Cavs opened their playoff run against the eighth-seeded Detroit Pistons and ended it with a parade.

Advertisement The Pistons were tough and physical.

Every game was close.

They were led by a savvy veteran coach in Stan Van Gundy, who served as a worthy adversary for Ty Lue, a rookie coach going through a postseason test for the first time.

The Cavs swept the Pistons in 2016, but it was by no means easy.

They won three of the four games by 10 points or fewer and trailed in the second half of the only game that ended a bit lopsided.

They needed a corner 3-pointer from Kyrie Irving in the final minute of Game 4 to finish the sweep.

Lue saw how Van Gundy countered the Cavs inbounds plays in Game 3 and knew he needed something different.

He scribbled down the game-winning play on a napkin in his office just minutes before the tipoff of Game 4.

Thompson can recall the sequence and the entire series like it happened nine days ago, not nine years ago.

He looks at Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and this veteran Miami roster and believes it can happen again.

Detroit made us better, Thompson said.

They prepared us for what was coming.

In the opposite corner of the Cavs locker room Sunday night was Donovan Mitchell, who began peppering Thompson with questions about the players and teams involved in the 2018 postseason.

Mitchell was a rookie then on a Utah Jazz team that lost to the Houston Rockets in the second round.

Now, Mitchell is the face and the engine of a Cavs team expecting to make a deep run.

He took two weeks off to rest his sore ankle, then responded with 30 points Sunday, primarily by attacking the paint.

Too much muscle.

@spidadmitchell | #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/NUhuBowXIg Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 21, 2025 Mitchell missed his first six 3-point attempts, a continuing trend since he shot just 25 percent on 3s from March through the end of his regular season.

He made a couple of 3s in the second half, and the law of averages should dictate hell shoot it better as these playoffs progress.

It was the way he attacked the rim throughout the night that was perhaps the most encouraging sign.

Mitchell struggled at the rim throughout the regular season.

His 61 percent on rim shots was the third-worst mark of his career, according to Cleaning the Glass, and his lowest since arriving in Cleveland.

He also took fewer shots at the basket.

Advertisement Against a Miami team that lacks size, Mitchell was aggressive getting to the paint and converted 7 of 8 shots around the basket.

Although Miami loves to play zone and pack the paint, Mitchell is dynamic enough that shots in the paint should be available to him throughout this series.

The Heat were playing their third high-intensity game in five days and each game was in a different city.

The Cavs knew they would be tired and expected to see the Heats zone early, which they did.

Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson didnt love the way his players responded to it.

Atkinson stuck to his 10-man rotation, at least for now, although Dean Wade, Isaac Okoro and DeAndre Hunter all struggled badly in Game 1.

Hunter will be fine.

I dont know how Okoro can stay on the floor if hes not making shots (he has a long history of not making shots in the postseason), and Im starting to wonder whether Wade has the stomach for playoff basketball.

He played just seven fairly empty minutes, the fewest of all the rotation regulars.

He didnt play in the second half until garbage time.

Miami players can get a few days off their feet now.

Theyll watch film on Monday, practice on Tuesday and likely play much better in Game 2 on Wednesday.

The reality is the Heat probably dont have the muscle to punch back when the Cavs go on their offensive tears.

Thompsons comparison between the Heat and those 2016 Pistons may prove to be astute.

Sweeping the Chicago Bulls or the Atlanta Hawks in this first round probably wouldnt have accomplished much for a team trying to win a championship.

Four or five physical, mentally demanding games in this series could be far more valuable.

It will also be a challenge for Atkinson to match Spoelstra play for play.

Atkinson was already voted Coach of the Year by his peers, and the award from the writers should be coming next.

He isnt quite the rookie coach still wondering if hes good enough, but he isnt deep on playoff games as a head coach, either.

Advertisement Whether he has a napkin-in-the-office moment remains to be seen.

Lue was much younger and earlier into his coaching career in 2016 than Atkinson is now.

Lue was ecstatic in the days after his play design in Game 4 worked.

I have no idea whether he needed the confidence boost, but it demonstrated he was up for the task.

These Cavs already believe theyre good enough.

Darius Garland was terrific in Game 1, Ty Jerome continues to perform like an eight-time All-Star and Sam Merrill was so good he ended up playing more minutes than Max Strus.

Such is life in the postseason, where every game is a clean napkin just waiting for the next great idea.

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(Photo of Donovan Mitchell: Jason Miller / Getty Images).

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