Inside The Heat

How did that happen? The play that won it for the Miami Heat

Alex Toledo|
Nov 10, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins (22) dunks against the Cleveland Cavaliers during overtime at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images
Nov 10, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins (22) dunks against the Cleveland Cavaliers during overtime at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images | Rhona Wise-Imagn Images

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The Miami Heat were able to come out on the other side of a wild overtime game against the Cleveland Cavaliers with a win, ultimately, due to a play call that led to Andrew Wiggins finding himself for a wide open lob dunk with 0.4 seconds remaining.

The play featured elevator screens, with Norman Powell, (the game's leading scorer at 33 points), curling off them, as a decoy action. As the Cavs scrambled to stay connected, they botched a switch, leading to a cutting Wiggins. Nikola Jović nailed the lob and the game was over.

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, explained that the play was not only diagrammed, but also suggested by assistant coach Chris Quinn to go to at the end of the game.

"As soon as we got to the huddle, I kind of expected that they were going to make me throw the pass, you know. I guess I'm solid," Jovic said, beginning his breakdown of the play. "At first, I was confused because Coach Spo just handed the board to Quinny, and Quinny started running a play, and I think everybody was just looking around, couldn't believe the shot that Donovan made, and, he was making sure they were locked in for the play."

"We got out of the huddle, and I stepped on the sideline and they didn't know who was going to guard who. First they put Mobley on me, and I thought that was a good idea for them because the pass would have been, you know, pretty hard to throw. And then as soon as they changed, I was like, okay, I got a small guy, can throw the pass over him, and as soon as I saw that, they put Mobley on Jaime," Jovic said. "I looked at Wiggs and we knew he was going to work, so as soon as as soon as they screened for him, I just knew I had to throw it perfectly at the rim. So he got just enough time to put it in, and, yeah, that's it. Simple as that."

"Shout out to Coach Quinny. That was an incredible, incredible late game play call from him. Executed extremely well. Great screen by Davion, Norm flying off, but a distraction," Jaquez said. "Niko with a great pass, Wiggs with the great finish and I was just chilling in the corner. So it was beautiful, man. It was beautiful."

"Yeah. I mean, I mean, it was great. It was great execution. Quinn drew up a hell of a play. My job was to fly off and cause a little distraction, and, as soon as I saw Wiggs get a step off of the Davion screen, I knew it was good," Powell said. "Niko's pass was on the money, and Wiggs turned up, turned back the clock a little bit, and got that off real quick."

"The coaches, they drew up a great play and Niko gave me an amazing pass, perfect pass, and D-Mitch got me open with a great screen, and I was there to finish the job," Wiggins said, adding to the compliments for the game-ending play, (along with the Cavs' head coach and other Cavs players, by the way).

"There's so many things, like we talked about who should be on the ball. Should it have been Evan? Should it have been me? We thought they were going to put it at the at the rim. So we put all our length down there," Donovan Mitchell said. "Credit to Spo, they took all the length away from the rim and set a back pick, right. So that's that's the chess piece, that's the chess game, the chess match and you got to give them credit. They made an excellent read, an excellent call and you learn from these things."

Alexander Toledo is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI and producer/co-host of the Five on the Floor podcast, covering the Heat and NBA. He can be reached at toledoalexander22@gmail.com. Twitter: @tropicalblanket

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Alex Toledo
ALEX TOLEDO

Alex, who was born in Miami, is also a producer, co-host and reporter for the Five on the Floor podcast. He has covered the Heat and NBA since 2019 as a season credential holder. He studied journalism at Florida International University.