Game Night Observations: A Text Message, A Record-Setting Night and Championship Focus in South Beach

The Cleveland Cavaliers are 12 wins away from hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy

MIAMI — Phones buzzed for members of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. A text message from Max Strus was sent to the team group chat on the eve of the team’s first opportunity to close out an opponent this postseason.

“Take care of business so we can get some rest until the next round, take advantage, take all the advantages we can get,” Donovan Mitchell read off his phone.

Strus’ message was one meant to push away any complacency that the Cavs could potentially be facing. They held a 3-0 lead over the Heat and he sense from the coaching staff and the locker room after Saturday’s Game 3 win was that the fourth and final win of the series would be the most challenging to get.

“I think that's huge, especially coming from Max,” De’Andre Hunter said. “Max has been to the Finals and knows what it takes, especially coming out of the East. So coming from Max, I mean that was big. We all have one goal. We're trying to win a championship. This is cool to get this series, to get this series win, but the work is far from done.”

Coming off of a 37-point victory, it would have been easy to take Monday night as a formality. Instead, the Cavs handed Miami its worst postseason loss ever, for the second consecutive game. The Cavs built a 45-point first half lead. That grew to 60 points in the second half. Ultimately, the Cavs won 138-83, setting a record for the largest margin of victory in an elimination game in NBA history. It was the fourth-largest margin of victory in a playoff game overall.