In Miami, the Cavs handed the Heat the worst playoff defeat in franchise history, despite the absence of All-Star guard Darius Garland and a relatively quiet 13-point game from Donovan Mitchell.
Jarrett Allen scored 22 points and De’Andre Hunter added 21 off the bench as six Cavs players scored in double figures.
The Heat, well aware that no NBA team has rallied from 3-0 down to win a playoff series, got off to a fast start and led by nine midway through the first quarter.
But the Cavs were up by 13 by the end of the first quarter, their lead never dipping below double digits the rest of the way.
“We took the first punch and from there we just took the game over,” said newly minted Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley, who chipped in 19 points.
Bam Adebayo scored 22 points to lead the Heat, but the 37-point margin of defeat surpassed the Heats previous worst post-season loss, a 36-point defeat to the San Antonio Spurs in game three of the 2013 NBA Finals — when the Heat went on to win the title.
In San Francisco, Stephen Curry shook off a slow start to score 36 points with seven rebounds and nine assists as Golden State pulled away late for a 104-93 victory over the Houston Rockets that put the Warriors up 2-1 in their series.
The Rockets had a one-point lead with less than six minutes remaining in the bruising back-and-forth battle that featured 18 lead changes.
Gary Payton II then scored four straight baskets for the Warriors and fed Curry for a three-pointer that gave the Warriors a 95-86 lead.
The hard-fought victory came without star forward Jimmy Butler, who suffered a pelvic contusion in a hard fall in game two.
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