Jimmy Butler seizes a needed moment as Heat hold off Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell 119-115

The face of desperation was the face of the Miami Heat on Friday night when they went down 14 in the third quarter.

It turned out to be a good look, or at least a needed look, one that will be further necessary in the heated middle of the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Forced to take on some of the best of Donovan Mitchell, the Heat made a needed stand in a 119-115 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers to salvage a 3-3 homestand,

“We’re fighting for our competitive lives right now,” coach Erik Spoelstra said after the season’s latest nail-biter. “Is this the position we want to be in now? No. But this is what you want, you want games with incredible pressure and context.”

While work remains to get out of an Eastern Conference play-in seed and into one of the six automatic playoff seeds in the East, this was a night when the Heat stared down adversity when it was casting its ugliest face.

A loss would have trimmed the Heat’s lead at No. 7 in the East to a mere half-game over the Atlanta Hawks, who won earlier in the night. Instead, the Heat remained within 2 1/2 games of the No. 6 Brooklyn Nets and three games of the No. 5 New York Knicks.

“At this point,” guard Tyler Herro said, “all these games are playoff games for us.”

With the game standing within five points in the final five minutes, it left the Heat with their league-high 48th clutch game of the season.

Harrowing, as usual.

Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 33 points, supported by 25 from Herro, 19 from Bam Adebayo, with Max Strus offering needed 3-point support in a 14-point effort off the bench.

Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 42 points, his ninth 40-point game of the season.

Five Degrees of Heat from Friday’s game:

1. Closing time: The Heat led 27-26 at the end of the first period, but then trailed 59-50 at halftime.

The Heat then closed within one early in the third period, when down 14 later in the period, before closing within 89-82 entering the fourth.

Then, with Butler on the bench, the Heat pushed to a four-point lead early in the fourth, with Butler shortly thereafter returning to help push the Heat lead to seven.

“We just had to stay afloat,” Herro said of those fourth-quarter minutes without Butler.

A Caris LeVert 3-pointer then drew Cleveland within 105-101, with a Ricky Rubio 3-pointer with 3:03 to play trimming the Heat deficit to 107-104.

But a Strus 3-pointer, part of the Heat’s second-half 3-point revival, got the Heat lead to 110-104, with a Herro 3-pointer making the lead 113-106 with 1:35 left.

But back came Mitchell, getting Cleveland within 113-110 with 64 seconds left.

An offensive foul on Butler and an Evan Mobley alley-oop dunk then had Cleveland within 113-112 with 38.7 seconds to play.

Little pretense followed, with Butler taking an inbounds pass and dribbling into a 19-foot jumper with a 115-112 lead with 18 seconds left, leading to Cleveland’s final timeout.

From there, Mitchell turned the corner in the lane, drew a foul on Adebayo, and drained both free throws to get Cleveland within 115-114 with 10.3 seconds to play.

Caleb Martin then was fouled with 8.9 seconds to play, his first trip of the night to the line, draining both for a 117-114 Heat lead.

In a break from the Heat norm, Butler then fouled Mitchell with 5.6 second to play before Cleveland could launch a potential tying 3-pointer,

“I felt fully comfortable with Jimmy making that decision,” Spoelstra said of the foul.

Mitchell made the first free throw, intentionally missed the second, with Butler securing the rebound of that miss.

Fouled, Butler put it away at the line with a pair of free throws.

“You want to see what this competition can bring out of you,” Spoelstra said.

2. Butler time: Butler scored 11 points in the third quarter in leading the Heat’s comeback over the second half of the period, to move to 21 points entering the fourth.

But that also was when he was pulled for his customary rest at the start of the fourth, a reality and necessity for a 33 year old.

This time, the Heat did right by Butler in his absence, with a 97-94 lead when he returned with 6:56 to play.

With his third point, Butler passed Mario Chalmers for 13th on the Heat all-time scoring list.

Butler closed 12 of 16 from the field and 8 of 9 from the line.

“I feel like we can say this about so many of these games, but that’s what the greats do,” Spoelstra said. “It’s the epitome of efficiency.”

3. Boy wondering: No, not always the best shot selection, but Herro’s fourth-quarter impetuousness was what the Heat needed as Butler rested, including a pull-up transition 3-pointer that put the Heat up 93-91 with 8:44 to play.

Herro not only kept the Heat afloat with his 3-point shooting, but also was aggressive on the boards, with the Heat again playing smaller lineups at closing time against the Cavaliers’ length, closing with nine rebounds.

With his ninth point, Herro passed Shaquille O’Neal for 18th on the Heat all-time scoring list.

Of his somewhat brazen 3-pointer in transition, Herro said with a smile, “It’s a good shot if you make it. Spo can’t say anything if you make it.”

4. Something new: Kyle Lowry, who missed his 15th consecutive game with knee soreness, went through a vigorous pregame shooting regimen, with an expectation of a return in Saturday’s road game against the Orlando Magic.

The team confirmed after the game that Lowry will be traveling.

A Lowry return would come at a stage when fill-in point guard Gabe Vincent has been struggling, including three missed shots Friday night that did not even hit the rim.

If Lowry returns as a reserve, it would be his first game off the bench with the Heat.

“That’s my guy, that’s my brother,” Butler said. “I’m glad to have him back. He’s going to change the game in so many ways for this team.”

5. One-man show: Mitchell was up to 25 points at the intermission, at 9 of 12 from the field and 6 of 8 on 3-pointers. The Heat, by comparison, were 3 of 10 on 3-pointers in the first half.

Mitchell scored 17 points in the second period, when the Cavaliers outscored the Heat 33-22.

Mitchell then went into the fourth with 33 points, already tying his season high at that stage with eight 3-pointers.

The game took on a different complexion with Cleveland guard Daruis Garland sidelined with a quad contusion sustained in Wednesday night’s Cleveland victory over the Heat. That had Caris LeVert starting in his place. Garland led Cleveland with 25 points in Wednesday night’s victory.

The Cavaliers entered 10-0 in Garland’s absence this season.

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