It may not have been how he envisioned, but Tyler Herro, coming off the bench, continued to prove that he's still the most important player on the Miami Heat. In his return from injury, Herro finished with 24 points in 23 minutes as the Heat thumped the Atlanta Hawks by 31 points.
When Herro plays in rhythm and finds comfort in the right role, he immediately becomes a true x-factor for the Heat. Especially on the offensive end of the floor, where the Heat have found the most inconsistency so far this season, Herro might be exactly what this team has missed.
But it's not just the 24 points scored in 23 minutes.
It's how those points were scored.
Tyler Herro's value to the Heat was on display in his return
There was never a point last night when it felt as if Herro was forcing the issue. Coming off the bench, it didn't even feel as if Erik Spoelstra was forcing the issue with Herro, either, which has, at times, been an issue earlier this year.
For one night, everything just flowed. And fit. Spo was hitting on every rotational move, and Herro felt like a seamless part of the team.
Again, it was just one game against one opponent, but there's certainly something to build off from moving forward. And I can't help but wonder if almost everything fed off the fact that Herro was playing the right role.
When Herro is playing the right role, and when he's operating at a high level, this Heat team becomes that much more dangerous. That's exactly what we saw from them on Friday night against the Atlanta Hawks.
With the exception of a few shaky moments in the second quarter, the Heat absolutely dominated the Hawks. Again, everything seemed to work and, perhaps most importantly, fit for Miami. Why is this such a big deal? Because when this team has been healthy, there have been so few examples of that.
But that wasn't an issue against the Hawks. And in his return, Herro looked like the missing piece for this Heat team.
Certainly not the missing piece that's going to lead the Heat to contender status in the Eastern Conference, but a part of the puzzle that could get this team back into the conversation for a top 6 seed.
Contrary to popular belief, the Heat are a better team with a healthy Herro. Sometimes, that can be difficult to see. Especially when Herro doesn't feel like a great fit in the Heat's offense.
But when he's in the right role, there's no arguing that Herro may in fact be the most important player on the Heat's roster. In his return, on Friday night, Herro was playing that role perfectly.