After a waiting period, Tyler Herro finally made his season debut, and with him, the Miami Heat also caught fire. With 24 points from Herro, including a crucial floater that gave Miami the definitive lead in the last minute, the Heat achieved a 106-102 victory against the Dallas Mavericks at the Kaseya Center. This triumph not only maintains the team’s good start to the season, but also celebrates the return of their top scorer, who recovered from an ankle surgery performed in September.
Herro had been working intensely on his physical conditioning, with the aim of returning at the end of this month, two months after surgery. Herro’s return on Monday, in a game in which Norman Powell did not participate due to a groin injury and after Sunday’s victory in Philadelphia, was ideal for a Heat looking to maintain their initial momentum. “It’s amazing that he can come back and have that rhythm, and that’s only going to get better,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “When you’re facing better defenses, you can see why we need that skill. You need as much skill and firepower as possible in this league. And it was exciting to have him back.” The Heat needed every point from Herro, as Dallas, who has played their fifteenth close game of the season, leading the league in this statistic, came back from a 13-point deficit to tie the score in the final quarter, thanks to P.J. Washington’s 27 points. After a pass from Washington that was intercepted by Bam Adebayo, Herro scored a floater that put the Heat up 104-102. With errors from both teams, including misses from Washington, Adebayo secured the victory with free throws, achieving Miami’s fifth consecutive win and the eighth in their last ten games.“It was a long nine or ten weeks, but they went by fast. The team has had a lot of fun, and being able to go out and compete with them tonight was great,” Herro commented.
Tyler Herro
“I was in the right position, I got to my spot and made a floater. But Bam made an incredible steal… without Bam, I wouldn’t have been able to make that play,” explained Herro.
Tyler HerroHerro comes off a standout season for the Heat, averaging 23.9 points on 47% efficiency and being selected for his first All-Star game. After the defeat in the first round of the playoffs against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Spoelstra redesigned the team’s offensive system, incorporating Noah LaRoche as a consultant, implementing a different system that is distinguished by its fast pace and quick decisions, without relying so much on the pick-and-roll. “We have a lot of players who are difficult to defend after receiving the ball. It’s a fun offense, where everyone feels involved, and everyone has the opportunity to be aggressive,” Adebayo commented. Herro found his rhythm late in the second quarter, scoring after missing his first shots. From there, he made nine straight shots, and 12 of his last 14 attempts, mainly on mid-range shots and floaters. “It’s not a fit for him in terms of how we play. He will fit perfectly. He’s going to amplify everything we’re doing. I’m happy for him and it’s good that we can build on this,” concluded Spoelstra.
