Cavaliers: Three keys to game vs. Heat on Thursday

The Cleveland Cavaliers are back home at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse after a three-game road trip, and play host to the Miami Heat on Thursday.

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a nice trip, where they went 2-1, and are now 4-6 in the 2019-20 season.

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Cleveland beat the Washington Wizards and really took it to the New York Knicks, but to nobody’s surprise, the Cavaliers fell to the Philadelphia 76ers.

As has been the case most of the season, though, under head coach John Beilein and the coaching staff, Cleveland was in that one right until the end, but star big Joel Embiid, in particular, was just too much for the Cavs.

In that three-game road slate recently for the Cavaliers, the young starting backcourt of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton played really well, and Garland may have turned a corner overall, too.

His terrific performance against the Wiz seemed to have gotten him going, as was predicted, and that’s been awesome to see as a fan of the Wine and Gold. Garland’s decision-making in recent games, and pace, have had to have made Beilein and company pleased.

Looking to the next game for the Cavs, they’ll have a home contest against the Miami Heat on Thursday.

Miami is off to a good start with a 7-3 record, and are seventh in the NBA in net rating, as indicated by NBA.com.

As has usually been the case with Erik Spoelstra as the Heat’s head coach, Miami is a hard-nosed club led by their play on the defensive end.

So what are the keys to this first matchup of the 2019-20 season between the Cavs and Heat?

We’ll get into that now.