CLEVELAND — For weeks, as their play-in fate became as much of a reality as that of the Cavaliers being the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, all the Miami Heat wanted was an opportunity to get to Cleveland.

Now the question is whether they can get back.

Far more competitive than in Sunday night’s opener of this best-of-seven Eastern Conference opening-round series, the Heat this time fought to the finish in a 121-112 loss Wednesday night to the Cavaliers at Rocket Arena.

Still, the Heat only make it back to the shores of Lake Erie for a Game 5 next Wednesday if they win one of the next two games at Kaseya Center.

With the Cavaliers setting an NBA record with 11 3-pointers in the second period and the Heat initially unable to get any offensive consistency beyond what would turn into the 33 points of Tyler Herro, it seemed like more of the same for Erik Spoelstra’s team as in Sunday night’s 121-100 series-opening loss.

But then the fight returned, just as it did during the play-in round.

This time, though, too little, too late.

The Heat also got 18 points from Davion Mitchell and 17 from Haywood Highsmith, but not nearly the needed offense from Bam Adebayo, who finished with 11 points, albeit also with 14 rebounds and nine assists.

For the Cavaliers, whose offense again was aided by Heat turnovers, there was ample scoring diversity, led by the 30 points of Donovan Mitchell.

Game 3 is 1 p.m. Saturday at Kaseya Center, with Game 4 on Monday night at Kaseya Center, at either 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m., depending on if Grizzlies-Thunder is a sweep.

Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:

— 1. Game flow: The Heat raced to an early nine-point lead before the Cavaliers surged back to a 25-24 lead at the end of the opening period. From there, the Cavaliers converted a volley of 3-pointers to move to a 19-point second-period lead before going into halftime up 68-51.

The Cavaliers’ 43 points in the second quarter were their high for any quarter in a playoff game since scoring 49 against the Golden State Warriors in the first quarter on June 9, 2017 in the NBA Finals, when LeBron James still was with the team.

The Cavaliers’ 11 second-quarter 3-pointers were an NBA record for 3-pointers in a playoff period.

Down 19 late in the third, the Heat then closed within 93-80 going into the fourth.

— 2. Closing time: A Highsmith 3-pointer then drew the Heat within 99-91 with 7:29 to play, similar to the Heat’s feistiness early in Sunday’s fourth quarter, with a Mitchell 3-pointer drawing the Heat within 101-97 with 5:47 left.

Later, a Herro transition layup drew the Heat within 101-99 with 4:25 to play. The Heat then also got within two with 3:11 to play on a Herro jumper.

But a Donovan Mitchell 3-pointer later put Cleveland up 110-103 with 1:52 to play, providing too much of a late hurdle.

— 3. Doing his part: Herro was up to a game-high 15 points at halftime, a stage when no other Heat starter had more than five.

Herro then moved to 22 points with 8:04 left in the third period, when he converted his fourth 3-pointer, at a stage no teammate had more than nine points.

He stood with 27 points through three periods, with no other starter with more than Wiggins’ 10 at that stage.

— 4. New look: After downplaying potential major adjustments during his pregame media session, Spoelstra did just that with his lineup.

After starting Alec Burks in both play-in wins last week and Sunday’s opener of this series, Spoelstra this time turned to Mitchell in a starting lineup that also included Herro, Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins and Kel’el Ware.

The Heat entered 2-6 with that lineup, one that saw action amid the Heat’s late-season 10-game losing streak.

Rotation tinkering was almost immediately required, with Mitchell and Wiggins each called for two first-quarter fouls.

Mitchell then came alive late, just as he did in Sunday night’s fourth quarter.

— 5. Larsson, Jovic. too: Among those injected into the Heat rotation were rookie guard Pelle Larsson and third-year forward Nikola Jovic, their first postseason action of substance.

Larsson entered in the first Heat substitution in the first quarter. Jovic entered midway through the second period.

While Larsson was limited in his minutes and contribution, Jovic’s size and ballhandling proved unexpectedly effective.

Larsson had been out of the rotation since spraining his right ankle during a lifting session 90 minutes before the play-in opening victory over the Chicago Bulls last week.

Jovic had not played rotation minutes since breaking his right hand in the Feb. 23 road loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, with this his second game back.

Jovic closed with 11 points and eight rebounds, Larsson with two points and two rebounds.

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