After a waiting period, Tyler Herro finally made his season debut, and with him, the Miami Heat also resurfaced. With 24 points from Herro, including a 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 continues the team’s good start to the season and celebrates the return of their top scorer, who recovered from ankle surgery performed in September.
Herro had been working on his physical condition for the last few weeks, aiming for the end of this month as a likely date for his return, two months after the surgery. According to him, the team and he had had this date marked for three weeks. His return on Monday, in a game in which Norman Powell did not participate due to an injury and after Sunday’s victory in Philadelphia, was ideal for a Heat team looking to maintain its initial momentum.It was a long period of nine or ten weeks, but it went by fast. The team has had a lot of fun, and being able to go out and compete with them tonight was great.
Tyler Herro
The Heat needed every one of Herro’s points, as Dallas, who has played its fifteenth close game of the season, overcame a 13-point deficit to tie the score in the final quarter, thanks to P.J. Washington’s 27 points. After Washington made a failed pass that was intercepted by Bam Adebayo with 48.2 seconds remaining, Herro scored a floater that put the Heat up 104-102. After several errors by both teams, including Washington’s missed three-pointers in the last 30 seconds, Adebayo made free throws to secure the victory, the fifth in a row for Miami and the eighth in the last 10 games.It’s incredible that he can come back and have that rhythm, and that’s only going to improve. When you face better defenses, you can see why we need that skill. You need as much skill and firepower as possible in this league. It was exciting to have him back.
Erik Spoelstra, Heat coach
Herro comes off a record season for the Heat, where he averaged 23.9 points with 47% effectiveness and was selected for his first All-Star. After the Heat were defeated in the first round of the playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Spoelstra redesigned the team’s offensive system, incorporating Noah LaRoche as a consultant to implement a completely different system. It’s a unique system in the NBA, which barely uses screens and continuations and has led Miami to play at the fastest pace in the league. In it, everyone must make very quick decisions. During Monday’s game, Herro seemed like someone who hadn’t played in a couple of months and was catching up.I was in the right position, I got to my spot and made a floater. Bam made an incredible steal… without Bam, I wouldn’t have been able to make that play.
Tyler Herro
Things started to click for Herro at the end of the second quarter, when he finally made a basket in the paint after missing his first four shots. From there, Herro didn’t stop. He scored nine consecutive shots, and 12 of his last 14 attempts, almost exclusively on mid-range shots and floaters. The result was an impressive statistic, although Herro still has to shake off some rust.You see it out there. We have a lot of difficult players to defend after receiving the ball. It’s a fun offense. There aren’t many screens and continuations, but the game is shared. Everyone feels involved, everyone has the opportunity to be aggressive, and we are succeeding with that.
Bam Adebayo
It’s not an adjustment for him in terms of how we play. He will fit in perfectly. He will amplify everything we are doing. I’m happy for him and it’s good that we can build on this.
Erik Spoelstra, Heat coach
