A look at Herro’s growing on-ball skills that surprised a teammate. And Friday’s game time
As Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra spoke to reporters following Sunday’s afternoon practice at Disney, guard Tyler Herro was still on the court working through passing drills.
Developing Herro, 20, into a more reliable and efficient player with the ball in his hands has been a big part of the Heat’s plan for his rookie season.
“Tyler is just developing that skill set by working on it,” Spoelstra said.
Nearly 10 months after Herro played in his first regular-season NBA game — a four-month shutdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic prolonged the season — the results of that developmental work were on display in Saturday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns. Playing as a starter and as the Heat’s primary ball-handler with Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic and Kendrick Nunn unavailable, Herro finished with 25 points, eight rebounds and a career-high 10 assists.
“I’ve been working with the ball in my hands really since the beginning of the season,” Herro said, with the Heat taking on the Indiana Pacers on Monday night at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista. “And now in the bubble, I’ve been working really hard with the ball in my hands. Coach has been helping me a lot. My teammates are starting to trust me more. I’m still young and I’m learning a lot.”
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The 10 assists were impressive, including a no-look pass to the corner for a Jae Crowder three-pointer, a perfect bounce pass in transition for a Bam Adebayo and-one floater, and a nice read on a skip pass for an open Andre Iguodala three.
But playing as a point guard is also about finding the right balance between facilitating and remaining aggressive as a scorer, especially for a player such as Herro, who is more of a natural scorer than passer.
Herro, whom the Heat drafted with the No. 13 overall pick in last year’s draft, found that balance against the Suns. He took a team-high 16 shots on Saturday, finishing 10 of 16 from the field and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.
In the first quarter alone, Herro scored on a driving layup, a floater in transition, a spin and drive to the basket, and a step-back midrange jumper after drawing the defensive switch. The 6-5 Herro shot 6 of 7 from inside the restricted area, 3 of 5 on mid-range shots and 1 of 4 on threes.
“It’s definitely a learning experience for me,” Herro said. “Being a natural scorer, or shooter ... it’s kind of hard to just balance the two. But it’s a learning experience knowing when to be in attack mode and then when to set guys up. ... I’m continuing to learn.”
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The Heat posted a quality offensive rating of 123.7 with Herro on the court against the Suns. That number shrunk to a dismal 69.2 in the 12 minutes that he was on the bench.
Herro might not become a true point guard, but his ability to play with the ball in his hands as a facilitator and scorer is encouraging for the Heat. It’s also surprising to some of his teammates.
“I really can’t say that I knew he had that,” Crowder said of Herro’s point-guard skills. “I knew he was a scorer, I didn’t know he was a playmaker as much he showed [Saturday]. That was a surprising factor of the game for me, just to see him facilitate offense and try to get us going on that end of the court. You look at the game, we had a chance to win the game. With him taking each game and trying to get better with his playmaking and his decision-making, it can only go up from here.”
GAME TIME SET
The NBA announced Monday that the Heat’s eighth and final seeding game will be at 4 p.m. against the Pacers on Friday. The time of the game was previously not set.
Friday’s matchup between Miami and Indiana will be televised on Fox Sports Sun and ESPN.
▪ Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. has played in each of the first five seeding games, but his role has been different in every one.
Jones played 16 seconds in an Aug. 3 loss to the Toronto Raptors and started for the short-handed Heat in Saturday’s loss to the Suns. He has averaged 4.2 points on 2.2 shots per game to go with 2.2 rebounds in 14.5 minutes during Miami’s first five seeding games.
“I always just stay ready so you ain’t got to get ready,” Jones said of preparing for different roles. “That’s all I can say. I’m always ready when my name is called.”
