Heat pummel Cavs behind balanced effort

Kyle Lowry scored 28 points, Jaime Jaquez Jr. led four bench scorers in double figures with 22 points and the Miami Heat rolled past the host Cleveland Cavaliers 129-96 on Wednesday.

Miami pounced on a Cleveland team playing its second game in as many nights, the first of which went to overtime -- a 122-119 victory over the 76ers on Tuesday. The Heat opened up a 16-2 lead less than four minutes into Wednesday's contest.

The Heat led throughout, leaning on a balanced scoring attack and stout defense. Miami forced 19 Cleveland turnovers while holding the Cavaliers to 36-of-77 shooting from the floor.

The Heat, meanwhile, made 46 of 88 field-goal attempts, including 20 of 35 from beyond the 3-point arc. Lowry went 7-for-10 from deep en route to a season high in points. Jaquez hit 4 of 4 shots from outside to pace Miami to 64 total bench points.

Orlando Robinson, Caleb Martin and Josh Richardson each scored 14 points in reserve duty.

Miami starters Jimmy Butler, Haywood Highsmith and Thomas Bryant notched 10 points apiece. Butler also dished out a game-high nine assists.

The Heat won every quarter and dominated nearly every phase of the game, including posting an 18-5 advantage in second-chance points.

Jarrett Allen, who recorded a double-double and the game-winning basket on Tuesday in Philadelphia, was limited to four points and four rebounds on Wednesday. Craig Porter led Cleveland with 16 points, Darius Garland finished with 14 points and Evan Mobley registered a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Caris LeVert returned to the lineup to score 12 points off the bench, but the Cavaliers were without Donovan Mitchell for a fourth consecutive game due to a hamstring injury. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Cleveland.

Miami was without Bam Adebayo, a late scratch with a hip injury, and Tyler Herro. Herro missed his seventh straight game due to a Grade 2 ankle sprain.

With the win, Miami picked up its ninth victory in the past 10 contests.