Tyler Herro finished with 33 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists as he helped lead the Miami Heat to a huge signature win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night. In the process, he also helped silence the doubters.
After the big win over the Hornets, the Heat are now tied with the Philadelphia 76ers for the sixth seed and just one game back of the Toronto Raptors for fifth. Perhaps most importantly, Heat fans are beginning to believe again.
Tyler Herro comes up big when Heat need him the most
For Herro specifically, it had to feel great to have his biggest game of the season in arguably one of the Heat's most crucial moments. After the injury-riddled season he's had, and the rebuilding of his reputation that he's had to do, coming through when the Heat needed him most had to feel great.
At least for one night, he managed to quiet the chatter from the doubters.
Because against the Hornets, Herro looked every bit the All-Star player that the Heat had desperately been missing all season long.
Herro was doing it all for the Heat against Charlotte. If it wasn't hitting a big 3 (in which he shot 8-10 from deep), he was finding an open teammate. If he wasn't playing an instrumental role on offense, he was pulling down a big board on the other end of the floor.
Herro was having such a great game that the Hornets resorted to doubling him as soon as he crossed halfcourt with the ball late in the game, a true sign of ultimate respect.
Everything was working exactly as the Heat had envisioned for Herro. Again, it's one game, but this is certainly the type of performance that not only Herro can build off of, but also one that could help catapult this team down the stretch.
Tyler Herro needs another big performance against the Pistons
Herro and the Heat can enjoy the win over the Hornets, but they'll have their hands full on Sunday when they welcome the top-seeded Detroit Pistons into town. If Miami is going to have any chance to keep this momentum going, they're going to need Herro to pick up where he left off against the Hornets.
The good news is that the Heat have played well against the Pistons this season. They're 1-1 against Detroit this season. The one game they did lose to the Pistons, they only lost by three. If the first two games between these two teams are any indication, it's safe to say that the third matchup will be a close one as well.
It could play out to be the type of game where a player like Herro could ultimately be the difference. After quieting the noise against the Hornets, it would feel awfully great for Herro to have another big performance in a big spot against the Pistons.