MIAMI – The Miami Heat suffered their worst playoff defeat in franchise history after losing by 37 points to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 on Saturday afternoon. Despite Heat's Tyler Herro having an exchange of words with Cavs' Darius Garland, the real challenge is battling through a 0-3 series deficit as the star guard gives a promise to the team and fans.

It would be a relatively underwhelming game for Herro as Cleveland defended him mightily and pressured him whether he was on or off the ball. The first-time All-Star finished with 13 points on making five of his 13 attempts from the field, one of three from beyond the arc, to go along with five assists and four rebounds, as he shared with ClutchPoints his message to the locker room while declaring the team won't be swept.

“I told the guys in the locker room, we wanted to be here,” Herro said. “We're the tenth seed, we had two games to win on the road, we could have let go of the rope then, we could have lost one of those games. But we wanted this, we wanted to be in the playoffs. There's our reality right now. But like I told the guys, it's not time to let go of the rope. You know, we're going to play to the final buzzer, whether that's next game, Game 5, Game 6, Game 7, another series after this, you just got to keep playing. That's what we're paid to do, and that's, I mean, that's who we are as an organization, we want to compete, and we're not going out 4-0.”

Heat's Bam Adebayo stresses “there's still a chance”

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers forward De'Andre Hunter (12) in the third quarter during game three for the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Kaseya Center.
Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

While the Heat were looking to bounce back after Game 2‘s competitive loss, Saturday afternoon would start well for the home team, but it was an 18-0 run by the Cavs in the first quarter that changed the momentum. Miami would find no answers in stopping Cleveland in the paint as they scored 60 in that area, plus their opponent's defense was executed to perfection in clogging up cutting and passing lanes.

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It led to the most lopsided playoff loss in the team's history, beating Game 3 of the NBA Finals in 2013, where the San Antonio Spurs beat them by 36. While the Heat would end up winning the championship in that series, the same fortune is improbable currently as Miami is down 0-3 in the series.

Team captain Bam Adebayo has stressed throughout the year, especially during their 10-game skid in the regular season, to “not let go of the rope.” Is that message now amplified with the series deficit at 0-3?

“Hell yeah,” Adebayo said to ClutchPoints as he finished the contest with a team-leading 22 points and nine rebounds. “I've been a part of a team that was up 3-0, and then, in the blink of an eye, we were going into a Game 7. So obviously, there's still a chance. As captain, you know me, I'm going out swinging. I don't care. We're gonna ride it to the wheels fall off.”

At any rate, Miami looks to extend the series with the season on the line by beating the No. 1 seed Cavs on Monday in Game 4 on their home floor.