CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Cavaliers came into the NBA playoffs as one of four teams tied for the most 3-pointers in a quarter.
On Wednesday night, they took the record for themselves.
The Cavaliers set the postseason mark with 11 3-pointers during the second period against the Miami Heat in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Cleveland was 11 of 16 from beyond the arc in the quarter as it jumped out to a 68-51 lead at halftime after leading by only one point at the end of the first period. The top-seeded Cavaliers were up by 19 late in the third quarter but had to survive a Heat rally en route to a 121-112 victory and 2-0 series lead.
“We’ve had a lot of moments like that this year because we have highly skilled players that can shoot. Everybody was shooting it,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “It was beautiful to watch. We've got good passers, good connectors. There's spacing and running and dirty work involved and then the skill work takes over.”
Max Strus made three 3s while Sam Merrill, De’Andre Hunter and Donovan Mitchell had two apiece. Mitchell had five assists in the quarter, all on 3-pointers.
“It worked exactly in my head how I thought it was gonna go. When you envision what you take from Game 1 to Game 2, I thought, yeah, if I get to the paint, guys are gonna collapse. And then to see guys continually hit shots, I mean that’s just a special group,” said Mitchell, who had 30 points and seven 3-pointers. “When you have versatility like that from the 3-point line, it really makes it tough on the guard. And that’s what you saw in the second quarter.”
The Cavaliers were one of four teams to share the previous record of 10, which happened during a second-round series against Atlanta in 2016. Milwaukee, Phoenix and Utah also sank 10 during postseason games in 2021. Mitchell was on that Jazz team.
The regular-season record for 3s in a quarter is 12, which has happened six times.
Cleveland, the top seed in the East, was second in the league in 3-pointers behind Boston and second in 3-point field goal percentage behind Milwaukee during the regular season.
The Cavaliers finished 22 of 45 from beyond the arc, tied for sixth most in a playoff game.
“When that happens, you have to stay the course and become even more stubborn. There were four of them that we defended really well, but once it got to seven or eight, I think we got discouraged a little bit,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Joe Reedy, The Associated Press
