Recap: Heat Dominate Blazers, 122-111

With the surprise announcement that the Heat and Blazers would be missing two of their best players, the complexion of Sunday evening’s game changed. But probably not by much, as Miami Heat dominated the slower-looking Portland team for a 122-111 victory that wasn’t even that close.

Box Score

The recap thoughts will be short tonight.

• Missing Pieces. CJ McCollum was out due to cold symptoms for Portland, and Jimmy Butler missed the game due to back issues. But Anfernee Simons was pretty fun to watch in McCollum’s place with 19 points.
• Lillard Time Requires Gears. Damian wowed the crowd with some nifty moves and great shots for 34 points, but without his back-court mate, he had little support, even against Miami minus their star.
• This bench runs on Carmelo. Anthony took over as the leader of the bench unit. While results were mixed at times, they were not an embarrassment despite being short-handed.
• Let’s Not Talk About The Defense. Seriously. Let’s not talk about it.

The Blazers next play Tuesday early evening in Toronto.