The Miami Heat got by the Pacers Monday after sweeping them in the first round. One observation that stood above all others, Tyler Herro has taken a step.
The Miami Heat are advancing to the next round of the playoffs. After demolishing the Indiana Pacers in their first-round series, winning the first four games in succession for the series sweep, the Heat now await the winner of the Orlando Magic and Milwaukee Bucks series for their next opponent.
No matter who it is, it only gets harder moving forward and that goes especially if the next opposing team is to be the Bucks. While either of the two teams that advances will surely be a challenge, there are few teams that present a challenge like that in which Giannis Antetokounmpo presents.
That list goes the Lakers (LeBron James), the Brooklyn Nets when right (Kevin Durant), and perhaps one or two more teams and players, but that’s it. That’s the list.
Either way though, the Miami Heat will be ready. Facing Milwaukee three times this season, twice without Jimmy Butler and once without both Jimmy and Goran Dragic, the Miami Heat have beaten the Bucks in two of their three chances to do so.
Speaking of Milwaukee though, one of their native sons has seized the opportunity that the NBA Bubble presented. Having already been in the midst of a special year for a rookie picked where he was, Tyler Herro took that to a new level in the bubble.
While his game is just legit, which explains his showings, there is more to the story. Before it was the cool thing to say, I hypothesized here that the suspension hiatus acted as pseudo offseason for some guys, especially Tyler Herro.
The Miami Heat knew they were getting a good one in this past draft, but even they couldn’t have expected this. Tyler Herro is as advertised… a bucket.
He took every moment to get better it seems. It has shown over the seeding games and throughout the first round of the playoffs.
Averaging 13.5 points on the season, a number surely increased by his performance in the bubble, he has consistently outperformed his averages from the regular regular season. Although his first three games of the bubble were get back games for the rookie, actually having not played a ton of real action since February, they did him some good.
He did come back in the last game of the regular year prior to the suspension, but he only played seven minutes and again, after missing a little over a month due to injury. So in all actuality, the seeding games was his official return to action.
He went for just seven, 12, and 11 points across those first three games, but after that, it was lights out for the rookie we call A Bucket. He would finish the seeding game schedule with performances of 20, 25, 17, 30, and 16 points.
The game that really stuck out was the Phoenix game, where he not only was one of the Heat’s best producers on the offensive end, but he also ran the team as their main ball handler. It didn’t stop once the Heat hit the playoffs either.
A rookie, in his first-ever playoff series, Herro averaged over 30 minutes played per game, 2 threes made per game, 35 percent shooting or better from three, four rebounds, three dimes, and three more points than his regular-season average, at 16.5 points per game.
That is a heck of series for anybody in their first go-around at the playoffs, but especially a rookie. What it has all shown is this.
First off, that the Miami Heat and Pat Riley are who we thought they were, one of the best scouting, player acquisition, and development tandems the game has ever seen. It has also shown something else that we already knew, that Coach Spoelstra is a great coach and always knows how to get the most out of all of his guys.
Lastly, it has shown that Tyler Herro is absolutely legit. Everything that was ever put on him and all that we, as fans, have ever put on him as a player is absolutely true.
He is like that. That is why and how we know that Tyler Herro has clearly taken a step forward in the bubble.