The Miami Heat have begun to bounce back after a stressful last week of play. It featured four losses and the incident that has now been seen and heard around the world.
With a blowout win over Sacramento this past Monday and a huge high-quality win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday though, the Miami Heat are now beginning to look, once again, like the team that many said would be a problem in the Eastern Conference.
Speaking of the incident, the losing streak, and a lot of the season, to be honest, there is another thought that deserves attention.
That’s, especially, when thinking about the win over a team that they hadn’t been able to beat all year long prior to Wednesday in the Boston Celtics.
For much of the year, there has been a debate about Tyler Herro and where he plays. Many feel as though he is a starter and while he is, the sixth one, many feel as though he should be one of the first five guys on the floor every night for the Miami Heat.
To be clear, on 29 other teams around the entire NBA, he would be. It’s not as if he isn’t good enough, as he’s becoming great before our very eyes, it’s just that it isn’t the best thing for this particular Miami Heat team.
Miami Heat: They’re Capable Of Winning Despite An Average Tyler Herro Night
Staggering Tyler Herro’s minutes, after you bring him in as the very first reserve, with the starters is the best approach, as it allows you to maximize all the best tools of your very best guys. That isn’t the topic or debate here today though, as that one could, honestly, go on and on.
When you think about his contributions and what may lead to people thinking that, a bit deeper into the same sort of scenario, there has, sort of, been a notion of Tyler Herro dependency floated around about this team.
Basically, quite a few people feel as though this team isn’t capable without Tyler Herro exploding every night.
That just isn’t true though. A top 25 scorer in the league this season, Herro is averaging 20.6(25th) points per game, second on his team behind Jimmy Butler‘s 21.3(22nd) points per contest.
For starters, in games that Herro has scored 12 or fewer points this season, the Miami Heat are 4-3. Though that isn’t great, by any means, it’s a winning record.
In games that Herro hasn’t played in this year, the Miami Heat are 9-6. That sample size is quite a bit larger and does say a little something.
Miami Heat: Wanting Tyler Herro’s Best, It’s Comforting To Know You Don’t Need It
According to their record when he doesn’t have a massive scoring output and their record when he isn’t even going for them on a given night, they are just as good when he hasn’t played this year. Here’s the final bullet point though.
Lastly, when you look at the Boston Celtics game from Wednesday, one of the best, toughest, and hardest fought games of the year across the entire NBA this season, Herro didn’t necessarily explode. He would finish with just 12 points, although he grabbed 10 boards, and dropped off five assists.
The point of it all is as follows. Yes, you would rather have Tyler Herro in the lineup than not in it.
Yes, you would rather have Tyler Herro being Tyler Herro out there on the floor, scoring 20 or more points in a quarter on multiple occasions, giving people the business off the bounce, and being the Scorcerer that he is with the ball in his hands (the man can do magic!).
You would certainly want all of that, as that makes the Miami Heat their very best selves. This is also a part of that point.
They are capable of being a very good team on the very rare occasion, this season, that he isn’t his best self. And that fact should be comforting as well.
That’s all.