Tyler Herro ran nearly three miles in Sunday night’s Game 1 loss as the Cavs made things difficult for him on both ends of the court.
Max Strus face-guarded him on the very first inbound, and Cleveland denied Herro the ball most of the night. Herro took only 18 shots but, more importantly, had just two assists.
The Cavs identified Herro as the head of the snake, and they worked to take him out. They did, and Miami’s offense was defanged. The Heat had an offensive rating of 89 points per 100 possessions in the halfcourt.
If the Heat are going to make this a series, they need to find a way to score with a Cavs team that led the league in offensive efficiency in the regular season. It starts with freeing up Herro.
When the Heat are on offense
One area of opportunity could be to attack Cleveland’s weaker defenders and force them into the action. Sam Merrill, Ty Jerome and Darius Garland all had moments on offense and were off the hook on defense.
Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson had his weaker, smaller guards slotted on Davion Mitchell and Haywood Highsmith for most of the night. Mitchell and Highsmith were hardly used as screeners.
Herro plays well out of the pick-and-roll with his bigs, but coach Erik Spoelstra might want to try leaning into more screens involving his wings. Those could be ball screens when Herro has the ball, or when Herro is off the ball to force an early switch.
(Spoelstra should consider starting Mitchell for this reason, as well. He's a better ball-handler than Alec Burks and could help get Herro going, either as a playmaker or screener.)
Spoelstra also has two big forwards – Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo – who can handle the ball and get downhill. Having Wiggins and Adebayo handle up top with a guard setting a screen could be a way to create an early mismatch. Inverted pick-and-rolls, with Adebayo handling and Herro setting the screen, could be a way to get a big player switched onto Herro, allowing him to attack off the dribble.
When the Heat are on defense
When the Cavs had the ball, they targeted Herro over and over. By the fourth quarter, Herro was worn down, and Jerome went at him and erupted for the final seven of his 16 fourth-quarter points that swung the game.
The Cavs made 12 of 16 shots when Herro was the closest defender.
Cleveland’s gameplan was to remove Herro from Miami’s offense and make him the focal point of Miami’s defense. The Heat need to flip that around if they’re going to push the No. 1 seed in the East.