CLEVELAND – Considering the torment of the five-game losing streak the Miami Heat carried into the night – from the buzzer-beating loss in Houston, the Luka Doncic 60 for the Los Angeles Lakers to the fourth-quarter blitz by the Charlotte Hornets – there likely was going to be no easy way out for Erik Spoelstra’s team.

So what had stood as a 21-point first-half lead Wednesday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers was gone in the second half.

Still, this time the Heat found a way, pushing back in the fourth quarter to a 120-103 victory at Rocket Area.

So one step forward in the win column and two in the standings, the victory moving the Heat to No. 8 in the Eastern Conference amid the scramble in the play-in/playoff race.

With Spoelstra shaking up his starting lineup, the Heat found salvation through 19 points from Norman Powell and 18 from Tyler Herro , as well as 17 points and 10 rebounds from Bam Adebayo and 13 points and 11 rebounds from Kel’el Ware.

In all, eight players scored in double figures for the Heat.

Five degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:

— Game flow: The Heat led 28-19 after the first period and 63-46 at halftime, after moving to their 21-point lead in the second period.

The Heat season-long third-period issues then fully resurfaced, with the Cavaliers, playing on the second night of the back-to-back set against a Heat team that was idle Tuesday, tying it 83-83 going into the fourth.

The Cavaliers then moved to a two-point lead early in the final period before the Heat pushed their way back to a nine-point advantage midway through the fourth.

The Heat nursed the lead from there, as Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell fouled out with 3:39 left in the game, after scoring 28.

— Side by side: Playing apart for most of the season due to injury absences, and then more recently by Spoelstra’s choosing, Powell and Herro were reunited in the starting lineup, with positive early results.

Powell was up to 13 points at halftime, with Herro with 11 at that stage, each with three first-half 3-pointers.

But then the chemistry was lost, each with just two points in the third period, the Heat’s big men taking over late to put it away.

Powell closed 7 of 12 from the field, Herro 6 of 11.

— Quality Ware: Limited in his minutes while offering limited contributions in recent games, Ware had a solid eight-minute initial stint, with six points and seven rebounds, the Heat outscoring the Cavaliers by 15 in those minutes.

Ware was part of an uptempo second unit that included Pelle Larsson, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis, with Herro cycled back into that unit.

Ware then did not return in the second half until 1.7 seconds remained in the third period, but made his presence felt in the fourth.

— Uneven night: Among the reasons Ware’s second-half minutes were limited was a 12-point third period by Adebayo after a two-point first half.

Against the quality defense of Evan Mobley Jr., Adebayo took his game to the perimeter, through three quarters 1 of 8 on 3-pointers while 4 of 9 otherwise from the field.

Adebayo also added seven assists to his stat line.

— And another one: The teams meet again on the Cavaliers’ court on Friday night to close out the four-game season series that also included consecutive matchups earlier this season at Kaseya Center, where the teams split.

This is the fifth of the six times this season the Heat face the same opponent in consecutive games (including one run of three in a row against the Chicago Bulls).

The Heat’s final such set is April 7 and April 9 in Toronto.

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