Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro indicated that the perception that the Heat’s trip to the finals two years ago was a fluke is wrong, and the team deserves respect.
Herro was a rookie during the 2020 postseason, which because of the pandemic, took place within a bubble in Orlando, Fla., where they were the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. Due to the unprecedented circumstances, no team had home-court advantage, which was a huge benefit to the Heat.
That led to the Heat reaching Game 6 of the 2020 NBA Finals before falling to the Los Angeles Lakers. Last year, when they fell in the opening round of the postseason, the idea that the Heat were a fluke developed
Herro was only a rookie during that remarkable 2020 run and has played a part this season in putting that idea to rest. Primarily coming off the bench, he’s having his best year yet, with the Heat also currently holding the best record in the Eastern Conference.
In 57 games and 10 starts, Herro is averaging 21.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists per game and is connecting on his shots from beyond the arc at a rate of 39.3 percent.
The Heat have been able to reach the top spot in the East even though center Bam Adebayo missed an extended period due to a thumb injury.
Having been on the other side as underdogs two years ago, the Heat know that the playoffs can be vastly different than the regular season. However, Herro appears ready to do his part to try to help the team make what it hopes will be a deep postseason run.